Of Anti Damsels and Wannabe Heroes - REPOSTED
by BloodRedRose72
Summary: Spitfire AU Flash/Wally x Civilian/Artemis. When the Flash saves a feisty Cocktail waitress she was not what he had been expecting, he'd never met an Anti Damsel before. *-* Artemis had been fine that night, she certainly did not need some flirty hot shot speedster to save her. And What about Wally West? READ THE DESCRIPTION! BloodRedRose72
1. Chapter 1

**FREAKING READ THIS FIRST! OR ELS! O_O**

**I DONT OWN THIS! This was posted by an author a long while ago, but she DELETED IT!**

**DO NOT COMMENT OR ANYTHING! NO REVIEWS! Not unless you are RoyalVictory! I will only remove this if she agrees to repost it! SERIOUSLY! Its too much of a master piece and my FAVORITE AU of all time!**

**ONE AGAIN! .REVIEW.**

-Of Anti Damsels and Wannabe Heroes-

_Everyone knows I'm in_

_Over my head_

_Over my head_

_With eight seconds left in overtime_

_She's on your mind_

_She's on your mind._

The music blasted through the dimly lit club. Artemis felt every bump and drop of the heavy beat in her skin. It echoed through her, causing goose bumps to erupt on her skin. It pounded through her, giving her a headache just behind her left temple. Multi coloured lights swung around, trying to induce a feeling of excited frenzy to the club.

She sent a flirtatious grin at the men at her table before turning back around and rolling her eyes. The blonde blew a stray hair out of her face. She was working the rush shift in the nightclub, which was also the shift that held the most creeps. The fact that it was a weekday just increased the amount of douche bags in the club. They strutted around, hitting on her and other female patrons, wearing too low v necks and sporting ridiculous hair styles that must've taken an entire bottle of hair gel to support. Not that it was just the males, but the women too. They ran around in too-tight dresses and too-short skirts, begging for attention. It made the young waitress a little sick. But if Artemis was honest, she would say she didn't really mind too much. More douche bags means more drunk guys and more drunk guys means more tips. Hey, you gotta make a living somehow and it's not going to happen off a lousy waitress salary.

Artemis slipped her way through the dancing patrons with cat like grace, her tray tucked under her arm. She dodged various limbs as they and their drunken owners swung out wildly. A few sober clubbers hovered at the edges, waiting for their drinks to arrive so they could fix that. The club wasn`t classy by any means - which was understandable with the literal name 'Filth' – this also explained the, to put it lightly, _adventurous _taste of the men and women on the dance floor. A priest would have a heart attack here. Well, with the exception of Father Bradley from the church on Sixth Street. He was currently doing something rather exoticwith a girl who seemed to have lost a fight with a can of orange spray paint a few feet to Artemis's right.

Artemis Crock was your typical 25 year old woman who was trying to juggle two minimum wage part time jobs, rent, friends, and family. She had been taken in by her uncle, Oliver Queen, when she was just eight years old. Her father had been a drunk and was both emotionally abusive and physically abusive.

On a particularly bad day he decided to go on a bit of a joy ride. He had ended up crashing. Her mother and sister had died in the crash along with him after he forced them to come along. The only reason she hadn't been in the car was because her sister had hid her in the closet when their dad went on his drunken rampage. Artemis would never forget the look she had as she shoved her in and said, "We're playing a game, kid. You're Alice and dad's the red queen. You don't wanna lose your head, do you?" Artemis had shaken her tiny head. "Good. Stay here. I'll be back soon." Artemis had asked which character Jade would be. Jade had grinned hugely, "The Cheshire cat." Then she had closed the door. And true to her character, she had disappeared. Just like the Cheshire cat - leaving little more than the memory of a smile.

But Artemis tried not to think about that. It made her heart hurt a little. Made her feel weak. And if Artemis hated anything, it was weakness.

Everything had gotten a lot better when she moved in with her uncle in Gotham. He used to live in Star City and still frequently went there to do business. He had moved to Gotham because he didn't want to pull Artemis out of school. He didn't want to make everything even harder on her. Oliver, or Ollie as he was frequently called, wasn't her biological uncle either but Artemis's mother's second cousin by marriage or something like that. Because they didn't have any other family he was made godfather for both the girls and didn't hesitate in taking her in. Oliver was a good uncle. Artemis looked up to him and thought of him as a father figure.

She reached the bar and was greeted by her bartender and friend, Kaldur'Ahm Kailani. He was often considered handsome with chocolate colored skin and blonde woolen hair. Black, eel-like tattoos snaked up and down his muscular arms and soft, sea green eyes that looked down on Artemis. If Artemis was tall, Kaldur was huge with at least a whole foot on her.

He smiled warmly as she moved towards him. Kaldur was like the big brother she had never had. He moved to Gotham from some country Artemis had never heard of before a few years earlier. Kaldur had gotten her the job at the club when she realized one part time wasn't going to cut it.

"Three house drafts for table sixteen's tab, please," Artemis said. He nodded and turned around to get them. While she waited, she fixed her ridiculously low cut tank top. It was a deeply cut black v neck that displayed the club logo across her stomach. The loose jean short shorts completed her work uniform.

Artemis felt someone move beside her and looked over to see her other friend, Rocket. Her real name was Raquel but she preferred Rocket ever since she got the nickname in high school. Artemis didn't quite know how she had got it, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. Rocket had short black hair with gorgeous brown eyes and had three silver earrings in each ear. She wore the same outfit as Artemis with a bright fuchsia jacket that would've looked horrid on anyone but her. The color seemed to work somehow on Rocket. She grinned at Artemis.

"Hey, girl. When do you get off your shift?" She asked.

Artemis check the clock on the opposite wall, a little discouraged to see it was only one a.m, "I have another hour and a half. What about you?"

"Kal and I get off now. Took the short shift cause we both still need to get presents for Megan tomorrow."

"You mean you need to get your present. I got mine last week," Kaldur had returned with the drinks and was smiled lightly at her before turning to Artemis, "Do you wish us to stay until you're finished so you don't have to walk home alone?" He said 'us' because he and Rocket were roommates, and had been for about a year now. They only lived a few blocks up the street but they also happened to live in the complete opposite direction of Artemis's apartment.

Rocket shrugged, "I don't mind."

Artemis loaded the drinks onto her tray and shook her head. "I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm not making you wait around this hell hole for me. Go home. Sleep." For Artemis, she couldn't think of something more embarrassing than having to be walked home. She hadn't been kidding about the taking care of herself bit, either. She had taken a variety of martial arts since she had been nine. She had seen her uncle practicing it in his home gym once and she knew immediately she wanted to learn it. So, he had paid for lessons and taught her on the side. Along with fighting skills, he had taught her archery, something she had fallen in love with just as fast. She had once asked why and how he knew all this stuff. It's only natural for a girl to get curious when her uncle has a full out archery range in his mansion. All he had responded with was a wink and a "How about some ice cream, Shortbow?"

"You sure?" Rocket asked, placing a hand on her hip. Her head was tilted to the side.

"Positive. Go." Artemis lifted up the tray to her shoulder and sent them one more smile before turning around. She weaved her way back into the crowd and to the men's table to deliver their drinks. They grinned.

"Thanks, honey. So, what are you doing after your shift?" Artemis let herself roll her eyes, her twenty dollar tip securely in her pocket.

"Not you." She replied with her usual snark. The man looked offended and Artemis had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes again.

It was going to be a long night.

An hour and a half, seemingly endless flirting, and about two hundred dollars worth of tips later, Artemis was finally free. She grabbed her jacket and purse from under the bar, punched her card out, and left.

Only the bitter air and the slight breeze remained from Gotham's dying winter. It wasn't cold out, just enough so she could see her breath rise in front of her. She had grown up in Gotham her whole life and like any other Gotham resident, she would only admit to being cold with six feet of snow on the ground. She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets and began to walk down the street, her long ponytail occasionally brushing against her back. She turned into an alley adjacent to a blinking street lamp. Her heels clicked against the ground audibly. Soon, she heard other footsteps approaching behind her. Okay, she thought, so other people walk this way at night. Stranger things have happened.

She pretended to not hear them and continued walking. She counted three sets of footprints and judging on the sound of their breathing, they were probably men.

"Hey, hot stuff. What're you doing outside alone?" Definitely men. Artemis ignored them as she kept walking but when she approached the alley exit, another man appeared. She turned at the last second down another alley, as if that had been where she was going all along.

"Hey, blondie. Wait up, we just want to have some fun." The tone of his voice set off little alarm bells in her head. Somehow, she didn't think her idea of fun was the same as his. But she didn't speed up her pace. There was no way she was letting these sleazebags think she was scared (which she wasn't).

Artemis was suddenly very aware of everything around her. A total of four sets of footsteps behind her. How she hadn't been to the gym to practice any of her martial arts or acrobatics or even to go on a treadmill for at least a couple months. How she is positive she had no idea where she was. How she still didn't have pepper spray, something very common for any female Gotham citizens. Even after all her uncle's badgering.

She turned again but to her dismay, she hit a dead end. She turned around to face the men who were following her. The leader was obvious. He wore a thick gold chain around his neck and carried a thick cloud of a mix of alcohol, deodorant, and what Artemis guessed was supposed to be cologne. He had no hair on top of his head just some that circled around the sides. She guessed he was the one who had spoken earlier. The one to his right was enormously round, so much so Artemis wondered where he bought clothes so big. His head was bald and so shiny that the weak light from a far off street lamp reflected off it. He was the one who had tried to corner her from the other side of the alley. The other two were small and rat-like, sporting huge noses and badly-trimmed mustaches. Their hair was a grayish-brown color. They looked so alike they must've been twins. Artemis placed all the men in their early thirties to late forties.

"Where you running to, hottie?" She refused to dignify that with a response so she said nothing, choosing instead to glare him down.

"Okay tootsie. Here's the deal. You give me a nice kiss and you can go." The one with the necklace said. Fat chance, thought Artemis. Even if he would let her go with only that, she wouldn't. There was no chance she was moving within a foot of him.

She stood her ground and tilted her chin a little higher, daring him to approach. Just as she hoped, they took the bait. The first to reach her was the rat- like ones. She dodged their fist before planting one in one's stomach and the other in the other's face. They both fell and she moved forward, not realizing she was surrounding herself. She caught the fat man's meaty fist and twisted it, forcing him to turn and fall to his knees. She aimed a kick to the leader's shoulder but missed when it tightened suddenly from misuse. Her foot landed on a glass bottle and slipped. She fell onto her hands and knees but didn't recover fast enough. She was grabbed from behind by the rats. Her purse lay just a few feet away on the ground, against the alley wall and out of reach. Her phone sat inside uselessly.

The leader laughed and the rest joined in. He tried to trace his finger down her cheek but she turned her face away.

"Isn't that cute? She's still fighting. You know, blondie, I love the fighters. They're always more fun," The leader taunted. But the fight wasn't gone from her; like he said, she's a fighter. Artemis whipped her head back and spit, nailing him in the cheek. His eyes flashed dangerously as he wiped it off then looked at his hand, as if he couldn't believe what just happened. He raised his hand to hit her and Artemis lifted her chin, too proud to shy away.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to never hit a woman?" The man froze and turned around. Artemis knew this was her window to escape – it wasn't like some hero was going to swoop in and save her. She silently thanked the idiot civilian who had made the distraction. For a second, she felt bad for the guy. He was probably gonna get beat up as soon as she made her escape.

She stomped on the man to her left's foot then jammed her elbow up his ribs. He released her arm as he doubled over and Artemis threw her fist into the other rat's face. His hands left her arm and flew up to his nose when she heard a satisfying crunch. She turned to see a smelly hand come down and knock her to the ground. She rolled with it though, because that's what you do. She sat up, ready to deflect or dodge any more blows but there was no point. Instead, she saw a red clad hand offered down to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other men. It looked like they had been tied up with their underwear.

Artemis brought her attention back to the hand. She followed it up a muscular red arm to find a well toned runner's body. He wore a skin tight red suit with yellow lightning bolt accents. Green eyes sparkled behind the cowl that hid most of his face.

He grinned, "Hey, beautiful. I'm the Flash. You okay?" She knew who he was, of course. He was The Flash, one of the two she suspected running around. One in Central City and very recently, one in Gotham. It wasn't hard to figure out there were two and the blonde was surprised the tabloids hadn't picked up on it yet. He was fast, but not fast enough to be in two places at once. She figured it was only a matter of time before someone said something. Artemis wasn't positive why he was in Gotham. Because, well, _Batman_. And secondly, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Nightwing. The city was becoming just a little crowded with heroes. It made some sense he was here, though. Crime in Gotham has spiked recently. It was at an all time high with more and more idiots deciding they needed to don a mask or purposely put themselves through some freak accident in order to have an excuse to turn evil.

She knew Flash. And she knew his- no, their- game. They were flirting maniacs. And that annoyed the crap out of her.

Artemis eyed his hand before tilting her chin up. She got up herself and he retracted his hand awkwardly. They stared at each other for a moment, Artemis with a look of defiance and Flash's grin only fading a little.

"Thank you." She managed to force out. His eyes lit up and he began to talk.

"No prob, babe-"

She cut him off, "But I had everything in control."

His grin widened a little, "Sure thing, babe."

She cocked a hip and placed her hand on it, "I'm no damsel in distress. I can take care of myself."

"I can tell," he looked over at the two men she had taken down. He must've tied them up with his super speed because Artemis didn't see him do it, "That's too bad, beautiful. I wouldn't mind saving you."

"Don't get used to it, red."

"Just remember, I'll always be your hero."

Artemis snorted, "Do you know how corny that sounds?"

"It might sound corny, that doesn't stop it from being true."

"Hate to break it to you, Flashy, but I don't need a hero. Like I said, I can take care of myself."

"So I'm guessing you don't want me to walk you home?"

"No."

"In that case..." He was behind her in a blink of an eye. Her hair tumbled down from her ponytail and he was suddenly in front of her again. He held up the black hair tie.

"Hey! Give that back!" She tried to grab it but he held it out of her reach.

"Sorry, gorgeous. Souvenir. Goodnight." He disappeared in a streak of red with a flick of her hair and a wink.

Artemis huffed and left the alley, ignoring the muted pleas of the thugs on the ground. She only stopped once to kick the one with the gold chain. For good measure, she told herself. It only took her about ten minutes to figure out where she was then an additional five to trudge to her apartment building, up the stairs, and into her room to collapse on her bed, not bothering to turn on the lights or close the curtains.

What she didn't realize was a certain speedster watched as she made her way home. He fiddled with her hair tie and smiled to himself before heading back to get the police to pick up the thugs.

_She's got you high, and you don't even know yet_

_She's got you high, and you don't even know yet..._

_She was built with a brain and some swagger_

_A little scream, little cry, little laughter_

_She's a ten, I'm a joke in my own mind_

_But she still loves to dance with my punch lines._

Artemis woke up to the sound of off-tune singing and groaned before prying her eyes open. She lifted her head to look at her blinking digital clock. 9:00 a.m. She groaned louder. Her head fell back onto her black sheets. She thought about going back to sleep but she decided it would be better for her to get off her lazy ass.

She groaned one last time, more for the hell of it then anything, before sitting up and scrubbing her face with her hand. She stood up onto the hardwood floor and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She cringed.

Her hair was a tangled mess and the previous night's mascara and eye liner was smudged. Artemis had forgotten to open her window last night and when she didn't, her room got unbearably hot. Her entire body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and her clothes felt tight and claustrophobic. She went to the wall to fix that, unlocking and pushing up the window. She poked her head out and leaned out, resting on her elbows. The black fire escape's stairs blocked part of her view of downtown Gotham. They had a corner apartment so both her and Zatanna had a window and fire escape, even though they were across the hall from each other. But what she could see was amazing. The streets were buzzing with people and cars. Drivers honked their horns as they inched forward in the rush hour traffic. Artemis could hear people yelling in the little alley market down the street and dogs barking at all the excitement. She could see and vaguely smell the polluted air. Good old Gotham.

Artemis pulled herself back inside and walked to her dresser where she exchanged her uniform for an over sized t shirt and basketball shorts, dropping her clothes into a plastic laundry hamper. She left her room, making a quick pit stop in the bathroom to wash her face and brush the tangles out of her waist length hair.

The blonde padded down the short, white hallway; the hard wood floors refreshingly cool on her bare feet. She noticed something lying on the floor outside her roommate's room, causing her to stop and examine it. She rolled her eyes then continued down the hall, past a closet before she reached the end. She walked through the living room, past the second hall to the door, then into the open kitchen. Her roommate, Zatanna Zatara, stood behind the counter, singing at the top of her lungs and dancing in place as she made breakfast. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Zatanna had long black hair and startlingly blue eyes. She had a shorter but slender build and was currently wearing a cyan colored spaghetti strap and black panties. Only one of her feet wore a sock, something she did because sometimes only one foot got cold. Artemis didn't get it either. She had been her best friend since high school and Artemis's roommate ever since they left it.

Her father was a single parent, raising her alone after her mother had left her on his doorstep when she was just a baby. Zatanna currently ran her father's magic show and shop while he was away for some magic convention. When he came back she would go back to working full time at the shop and to designing new toys and gadgets for it. That was her main role at the shop, making new little toys and tricks for it. It had started out as a hobby but when her father found one of her prototypes and they had sold like crazy at the shop, she was hired as official toy-maker.

That's the thing about her family. They're all magicians and damn good ones too. Zatanna's great great great great uncle was Zachariah the Magnificent. (Artemis had never heard of him but her best friend had assured her he was magnificent.) She knew every trick in the book, and learned almost twice as many from her father. The downside of having an amateur magician as a roommate would be that she enjoys pulling pranks; that and the fact that Zatanna's pet rabbit, Tibbar, was also quite the escape artist.

Zatanna stopped singing to turn around and grin at her roommate. It had a bit of an edge to it that Artemis didn't miss. "Morning, Artemis."

"Morning Zee," she responded as she moved to the fridge. She smirked to herself as she pushed past the milk, "Morning, Dick."

Artemis looked over her shoulder to see Zatanna's boyfriend, Dick Grayson, stand from where he had been hiding behind the couch. He wore a navy coloured shirt and red boxers. He smiled guiltily.

"Good morning, Artemis. May I say you look lovely this morning?" Artemis rolled her eyes at him. She had grown up with Dick, ever since she moved in with her uncle. Dick's adoptive father, Bruce Wayne, and her Uncle Ollie did business regularly. On top of that, they were also good friends. Artemis and Dick had become very close by default; it was like they were siblings. Dick was two years younger than Artemis at 23 but had been in the same grade at school as her because he was some kind of genius.

He had jet black hair and sea blue eyes, and was only a couple inches taller than her. Aside from a few exceptions, such as Artemis and Bruce, he could charm his way out of almost anything. He almost never got in trouble for pranks and such in school. For example, once he organized a whole flash mob in the halls during class. Not only did he get off from detention, but he got some kind of award for student leadership. Go figure. He had a habit of taking out the prefixes and occasionally the suffixes of words; like aster and whelmed. It had been annoying at first but it had eventually grown on Artemis. Dick was one of the best hackers she knew and had a degree in some computer technology stuff. But, he worked as Bruce's apprentice at Wayne Enterprises, doing what _exactly _Artemis wasn't sure.

Artemis had introduced him to Zee when he was a freshman. He immediately fell head over heels for her while she remained oblivious. When she had first introduced him, he had literally tripped over himself to talk to her. It took him almost ten years to build up the courage to ask her out. He had finally done it about a year ago and they had been dating since. She didn't think she'd ever seen either happier.

Artemis moved to sit at the small wooden table that sat half way in the kitchen and half way in the living room. Zatanna set it for three with plain white dishes and metal utensils. She placed the stack of pancakes she had made in the center and sat between the two.

"You guys working today?" Dick asked between bites.

"Yep. I have to be there in an hour or two." Zatanna answered.

"I'm at the restaurant today," Artemis said. She was about to ask for him to pass the maple syrup when a knock rang out at the door, interrupting them.

Zatanna jumped up. "I'll get it!" Dick followed close behind saying, "Zee, you're in your underwear!"

He caught up to her as she ran down the tiny hallway that led to the door. Artemis turned back to her food and leaned over to get the syrup herself. She poured it generously over her pancakes then picked up the paper. She heard the bolt click and the chain hit the door. Artemis ignored the sounds of the door opening and the muffled voices. Zatanna walked in with an impish grin on her face.

"Artemis, is there something you want to tell me about last night?" She rocked back and forth on her feet like an excited child.

Artemis looked up at her slowly and quirked an eyebrow, "What? Uh, no?"

"Huh. Well someone's here to see you from _last night_." She said the last two words meaningfully, like they were supposed to imply something at more than face value. Artemis sent her a blank look. Zatanna sighed, but kept her grin. She slid into the chair next to her, "I want _all _the details."

Artemis's eyebrows knitted together. "Details of what?"

"Oh, just go."

Artemis rolled her eyes but stood up cautiously. The only people she could think of were the men she met in the alley. Maybe one had escaped Flash and followed her home. She thought about the bat she kept in the hall closet. She could probably get to it if she was quick. But when she turned the corner she found the red door was angled with Dick leaning on it. He talked with whoever stood there, making it impossible for her to see who it was.

Artemis took it as a good sign that he wasn't unconscious or bleeding on the floor. While Dick was in really good shape and he was actually quite the impressive gymnast, she was pretty sure he couldn't hurt a fly. Because, well, Dick was probably one of the biggest nerds she knew and skilled gymnasts weren't exactly _fighter_ material.

Dick must've heard her because he stopped talking and turned to look at her. He flashed a grin that couldn't mean anything good. He moved to go past Artemis and down the hallway. As he passed her, he whispered, "Nice job."

She swallowed her comeback when her curiosity won out. She knew Dick wouldn't willingly leave her alone with someone he didn't trust or a stranger but she was still cautious as she approached the door and opened it. She lifted her eyebrows. Artemis found it wasn't one of the goons from last night but instead the wannabe hero.

Now they were in full light, she could see more than just the obnoxious color of his uniform and the general outline of his fit figure. She could see the lower half of his face was pale and had exactly three bright red freckles on each cheek. He had a square jaw and she could see the prominent outline of his abs through his uniform. But the thing that struck her the most was his eyes. In the dark they were an evergreen color but now, in the light of the hallway, they appeared to be bright emerald. They betrayed the smile his lips were trying to hide.

Artemis realized she was staring and snapped herself out of it with a quick mental slap. She shut her mouth (she wasn't sure when it had opened a little) and moved into her defense stance, cocking a hip and crossing her arms.

"What are you doing here? Do I have a stalker now?"

"You know, I'd thought you'd be thanking me by now."

"Thanking you?" She laughed, "How'd you even find-" But she was cut off when he lifted a large black bag. Artemis eyed her purse with malice, then Flash, then back to the offending bag. She reached for it but he held it out of her reach. His smile had broken onto his lips. It was teasing.

"So, Artemis Crock, huh?"

She glared and reached for the purse again. He held it a little farther away. Artemis glared then stomped on his foot. He jumped up and Artemis took his momentary distraction to snatch her purse from his grasp.

He rubbed his toe with one hand, leaning on the wall with the other. He looked at her and grinned painfully, "You play dirty."

"It's not as bad as wearing a full spandex body suit in public."

He stood up straight and smirked, "Don't pretend you don't like it. I saw you ogling me."

She felt a blush grow on her cheeks. "I'm the one checking you out? Please. You couldn't keep your eyes up last night. And now you can't look away from my legs." She was more than pleased when he turned as red as his cowl. He put his arm on the doorframe. It was so close it almost brushed the side of her head. The Flash leaned forward. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering to trace his spandex clad finger slowly down her jawbone.

"Can you really blame me, beautiful?"

Artemis rolled her eyes and pulled her head away. "Do you use that on all the girls you think you save?"

He laughed. "_Think?_ You know, I've never met an anti-damsel before." Artemis's face heated up for reasons unknown to her. "And no, I've never used that on another girl before. You're the first."

She snorted, "I'm flattered."

He laughed and gave her a wink, "You should be. See you later, beautiful." And he was gone.

"I wasn't done yet!" But she was yelling at thin air. She huffed and retreated back into her apartment, dropping her purse on the little table by the door. She was still mad at it. She sat at the table next to Zatanna and began to take her anger out on her pancakes. Zatanna raised an eyebrow.

"Care to explain what happened last night with _The Flash_?"

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Not particularly."

"Aw, come on."

Artemis sighed heavily. "He just showed up when some assholes cornered me in an alley. But I had everything under control," she insisted.

"He saved you? That's adorable!"

Dick walked in then. He had showered and was now wearing a tailored suit minus the jacket. He was attaching a watch to his wrist. The raven haired boy had somehow tamed his hair, as he always did when he went to work. A knowing smirk slipped onto his face, "Artemis was saved by Flash? What was his award?"

Zatanna's jaw dropped. "I hadn't even thought of that. The damsel always awards the hero." Her smile became sly.

Artemis rolled her eyes again, "Okay. First off, I had _everything_ under control. I didn't need his help. Second off, I didn't award him with anything. Nor should I be subjected to awarding him. Third, I'm no damsel." She paused. "I'm an anti-damsel and he's a wannabe hero. End of story." She rammed some food into her mouth while the other two chuckled and exchanged looks.

"Whatever you say, Artemis," Dick said as he grabbed his jacket. "I've gotta get to work. I'm already late. See you tonight at Megan's." He gave Zatanna a quick peck on the cheek and nodded at Artemis.

Dick turned down into the hallway and Artemis heard the door open then close. Zatanna waited a whole three seconds before she opened her mouth to say something but Artemis cut her off. "Nothing happened. Nothing. I swear."

"Really? Because I hear Flash likes to take souvenirs." Artemis sighed.

"So he took a hair tie. Big deal." Zatanna smirked and stood, victorious. She gathered her and Dick's plates then turned back.

"One more thing. How'd you know Dick was here anyway?"

"Your bra is in the middle of the hall. The lacy black one. Do you guys ever make it to the bedroom before you lose at least one article of clothing?" Artemis teased; thankful the topic had been changed.

Zatanna had the grace to turn pink but laughed anyway, "You should see his place. There's clothing everywhere. He doesn't have to worry about roommates."

Artemis covered her ears, "Ugh! Gross! I don't need to know that!" Zatanna just grinned. Artemis got up and hurried to the bathroom.

The room was small and had a fat white tub with an attached shower. The shower curtain was powder blue, as was the rug and toothbrush holder. The handles on the sink drawers were black. Everything else was white. She closed the door and turned on the shower. Artemis washed her long hair quickly then hopped out and wrapped a towel around herself while she brushed her teeth.

She left the bathroom and Zatanna went right in after her, holding the clothes she would wear to work. Artemis got to her room as the shower started. She walked over to her dark brown dresser and pulled out some clothes. Artemis put on black short shorts and a green tank top then pushed her wet hair into a loose braid. She went outside again and dumped all her laundry into a waiting basket. She eyed it and decided she would have to do laundry soon. A long time ago the roommates had established that Artemis would do all the laundry and Zatanna all the cooking because they were hopeless at the other person's task. It was a rather good system, actually.

Artemis turned into the small living room, passed the old brown couch, then the fat black TV, and walked straight to her little wooden easel. Artemis loved to paint. She had painted for as long as she could remember. After her parents died, her uncle had only encouraged her to do it more. It helped her relax and get past her family's deaths. Back at her uncle's mansion she had an entire art room just for her. The walls and high ceiling had been completely covered in paint and little stands held her canvases throughout the room. The floor was hard wood and a few desks lined the walls, all holding different brushes and paints and other various supplies. One wall was just a huge window. It looked over the sky line of Gotham and had a magnificent view of the sunset. Here, she settled for a corner with some tarp spread on the ground so as to not spill any paint on the floor. But it didn't matter where she painted; as long as she had the paints, a brush, and something to decorate. Her easel faced out one of the two windows in the room, so she still had a terrific view of the downtown Gotham sky line, filled with sky scrapers and glass buildings. Currently, a painting that included Wayne Tower and city hall as seen from the roof of her building sat on her easel.

The shower stopped and Zatanna came out of the bathroom a few minutes later in skinny jeans and a black t shirt. Her hair was dry and pulled back into a ponytail, her face holding a very small amount of natural-looking makeup. "Hey, I'm off to the store. Meet back here at seven to get ready?"

"Sure. See you." Zatanna left and Artemis glanced around the messy apartment. She should probably do something about it. She took out the broom.

Her shirt stuck to her back from the water from her hair. Her hair dripped onto the floor, annoying her to no end. Usually, she had a shower before she went to bed so it dried as she slept, but she had been too tired last night. When she had finished sweeping, she had to drag out the mope to clean up the water that had dripped from her hair. Sometimes, she hated having such long hair because it constantly got in the way and it was pain when it was wet. But, her father had hated it. He always told her having long hair was stupid and that she should cut it short. That's what mattered.

Artemis did some odd jobs around the apartment which including sweeping, moping, cleaning her paint brushes, and taking out the garbage. At about noon she gathered all the clothes into a white plastic laundry basket and put it in the hall by the door so she would remember to do it. She changed into jeans and a t shirt then brushed out her now dry hair and put it up in its usual ponytail.

Artemis grabbed her bag and was about to leave the apartment when she spotted a small, white fluff ball in the laundry basket, tucked into Zatanna's sweat pants. She sighed and picked up Tibbar. The rabbit squirmed in her grasp, its ears flopping around. She scratched its ears and brought it up so she could look at its face. An ear flopped in front of his face and his nose twitched. Artemis couldn't help but smile at the tiny animal. She cradled the struggling bunny to her body as brought him to Zatanna's room. She walked around various books and prototypes for the shop. She pretended not to see the empty condom wrapper on the top of her roommate's blue garbage can as she put the bunny in its plastic cage and made sure the door was locked. The cage was about two by three feet. The bottom half was black plastic and the top was white metal bars. The ground was covered in wood shavings and had a small black food dish and water bottle that hung on the side of the cage. Tibbar bounced around then looked up at her with wide innocent eyes. When he realized she wasn't about to let him out he hoped into his little plastic castle. Artemis slipped a few treats between the bars of the cage. Tibbar hoped out and grabbed them up, nibbling at them. Artemis double checked the lock. She wasn't sure why she did it. The seemingly innocent creature would find a way out sooner or later.

She left the apartment, sure to lock the door and move the bolt home, and then took the stairs on account of the pancakes she ate. She took the bus to the restaurant, putting her stuff in a locker in the back and grabbing an apron and a tray. The restaurant was about average size, a chain restaurant by the name of Ronnie's. The walls were painted a camouflage green and the booths were a bright blue with white tables. The dark red carpet was stained and had little designed grooves that caused a constant tripping hazard. Artemis wasn't sure who designed the restaurant, but she was pretty sure they were color blind.

It being one o'clock, Artemis made it to the restaurant during the last leg of the workday lunch rush. The restaurant wasn't really popular but it was clean and served wonderfully greasy food in the middle of Gotham's business district. It was bound to attract a crowd of hungry workers. She got right to work. As she filled up drinks, she saw her friend Conner Kent. He inclined his head as greeting and Artemis returned it.

Conner was tall, not quite as tall as Kaldur but pretty close. He had midnight black hair and pale blue eyes. He had broad shoulders and a muscular build. Conner was the strong, silent type, always brooding about one thing or another. Him and Artemis were gym buddies, but they had both kind of veered off it in the past few months. Whenever Artemis was upset over something she would go straight to Conner and they'd go to the gym to spar it out. At times, Artemis felt like she related to him most; more so than even Dick or Zatanna.

She returned to work but only got through about fifteen tables before Ronnie's became deserted, save a few elderly people nursing the 99 cent refills on tea and coffee. She collected her last customer's payment and put it into the register at the front. Artemis moved to the back of the kitchen where she found Conner and his long time girlfriend, Megan.

The two had been dating since they had been juniors in high school, a year above Artemis. Despite the slight age difference, they had become friends when Artemis got moved up into Megan's Spanish class. Megan Morose moved to Gotham from western Canada when she was sixteen. She had hair the color of a dark dawn that fell a few inches past her shoulders with eyes that were just a few shades deeper. She had freckles that splattered across her face and was on the taller side, only a few inches shorter than Conner. Her face lit up when she saw the blonde.

"Artemis!" She smiled hugely and ran to give the blonde a hug. At first, the girl's over affection and enthusiasm had bothered Artemis and made her a little uncomfortable. But she eventually got used to it, even a little fond of it. Not that she would admit it.

"Hey, Megs. Conner." Artemis said in greeting.

"Artemis." Conner said as Megan returned to his arm. When Artemis had seen them together when they first started dating, she wondered how someone who was so sullen could date and love someone so bubbly. She soon realized, however, they were pretty much perfect for each other and balanced out one another flawlessly.

Artemis looked back at the auburn-haired girl, "Happy Birthday!" She noticed a new necklace around her friend's neck. It was a turquoise teardrop on a silver chain, resting on her collar bone. "What's that? Birthday present?" Artemis asked even though she knew what it was. A week ago he had asked her to come with him to pick one out. But that was their little secret. Conner and Artemis had decided it was better that way. Megan nodded excitedly and Conner blushed. Well, his face turned a few shades darker which was pretty much blushing for Conner.

"Good job, Conner. It's beautiful. But I thought we were exchanging presents tonight?"

Conner nodded a bit stiffly, "We are. I got her something else too." Artemis nodded.

"You guys working tomorrow too?" Artemis asked.

"No. We have the day off." Conner said. "I'm just going to go grab a coffee. Anyone else?"

"Please." Artemis said.

"Okay," Megan smiled. Conner walked off. The girls watched his retreating back.

"That was really sweet of him. Getting you that necklace I mean." Artemis said.

"I know. It's so pretty, too. I have a feeling he must've had help picking it out." Megan sent her a sideways glance. Artemis was saved from answering when Conner came back with the coffees.

Artemis took a sip of hers and almost gagged, "How much sugar did you put in here?"

Conner looked down in his own cup, "About nine." Artemis put her cup down.

A small yellow light blinked on the white wall behind them and the most annoying buzzer sounded, signalling a customer's arrival. Artemis glanced at it and said, "I got it." She looked back at Megan and Conner, "Eight o'clock, right?"

Megan smiled sweetly and nodded, "Yeah!" Conner inclined his head at the same time. The buzzer sounded again and Artemis waved her hand.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." She sent one last smile at her friends then turned around and pushed out the faded white door.

They were all busy for the rest of the day with the pre dinner rush then the dinner rush. Artemis got to snatch a few quick words with Megan at one point and stand silently with Conner at another but otherwise she didn't see them.

When 6:45 finally rolled around Artemis exchanged her sticky tray and purple apron for her jacket and purse. She walked back to her red brick apartment building. She bypassed the elevator, as she usually did, and ran up the six flights of stairs. She pulled her key out of her purse and had to fiddle around with the door for a bit before it opened. Zatanna poked her head into the hall.

"Hey. How was work?"

"Boring. Tiring. Repetitive. What about you?"

Zatanna nodded and continued while Artemis kicked off her shoes, "Yeah, me too. Dick came by though. Said he was going to bring some friend tonight. He's told me about him before. They've been internet friends for forever or something and he just got a job at Wayne Enterprises. Some kind of scientist, I guess."

Artemis ditched her stuff in their tiny hall closet and walked over to her friend. Zatanna was holding a skirt in one hand and some dress pants in the other.

"I think his name's West. Wendell, maybe? It starts with 'W' I know that for sure. Hmm.." She followed Artemis as she headed for her room and sat on her gray queen sized bed. "William. Wade. Wallace. Wally! That's it!"

Artemis laid down next to her. She snorted, "Wally West? That poor guy."

"Well at least his name wasn't made up by his parents." Zatanna said. Both girls laughed and Artemis pointed to the clothes she had set down next to her.

"What are those about? Aren't we just going to Conner and Megan's?" She sat up.

Her roommate nodded her head impatiently, hairs that had escaped her ponytail fell around her face, "Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean I can't look nice for this guy. He is some big wig scientist after all."

Artemis rolled her eyes, "You have a boyfriend, Zee."

"I know _that_. But that doesn't mean I can't make a good first impression. He _is _my boyfriend's best friend." She paused, "So what are _you_ going to wear? You're single."

Artemis sighed tiredly, "I've told you a million times. I'm not looking for anyone right now. I just need to get through the next few years then I'll think about dating. I just don't have the time."

"Years?" It was Zatanna's turn to sigh. "Sweetie, you need to get laid." She paused. "You could borrow Dick for a while. He has a great ass."

"ZATANNA EW." Artemis yelled. She shoved her laughing friend so she rolled off the bed. Zatanna stood.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't get your panties in a wad. Like I'd share that ass with anyone." Artemis was about to launch a pillow at the still laughing magician when she wandered over to Artemis's closet. Her raven haired roommate began picking through it. Artemis stood up a little reluctantly and shuffled over to Zatanna.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for something for you to wear."

"I was planning on wearing this." The two girls looked at her coffee stained t shirt and jeans. Zee shook her head.

"No, you aren't. How about this?" She held up a black mini skirt.

Artemis eyed the skirt, "That's funny." Zatanna glared and held the skirt a little higher. Artemis glared back, propping a hand on her hip.

This would take a while.

A long, loud hour later the girls had come to a sort of middle ground. They both wore dark wash jeans and flats. Artemis had donned a forest green v neck and Zatanna had grabbed a deep red, loose tank top. Artemis's hair was up in its usual ponytail while Zatanna chose to keep it down. She didn't say it but Artemis knew Dick loved it when his girlfriend's hair was down. Artemis thought it was kind of sweet, even though she wasn't really a fan of sweet.

Zatanna grabbed her black pea coat and Artemis grabbed her black leather jacket. Both girls snatched their purses off the little table by the door as they headed out. At Zatanna's insistence, they rode the elevator down then they took a cab to Megan and Conner's apartment.

Their building was only a little nicer than the girls', with the same red brick and crappy elevator. They lived on the ninth floor in room 9d, just left of the elevator entrance. The hall had white scuffed walls and floral carpet. The girls walked down the hall, both holding presents for the birthday girl. The dark mustard coloured door had a clumsily taped, shiny sign on it that said _Birthday Girl_ in fancy pink lettering. Zatanna knocked some kind of weird beat on the door. Artemis raised an eyebrow. Zatanna just smiled. The door was soon answered by Rocket. She smiled at them both and greeted them with her signature, "Hey, girls!" She wore knee high boots over black jeans and a loose black top. Her usual touch of fuchsia was on her waist in the form of a thin belt.

"Hey, Rocket. We the last ones to get here?" Zatanna asked as she stepped inside and dumped her stuff in the already jammed hall closet. Artemis did the same while Rocket shook her head, her little earrings clinking together.

"Nah. Dick's not here yet, neither is his friend. We're all in the living room, come on." They followed her down the hall and into the cozy room. It had two big, plush couches that occupied most of the space. A circular wooden table sat crammed in the corner and a TV sat opposite the couches. Kaldur was seated on the smaller of the two couches and Rocket went to go take a seat next to him. Megan and Conner were both sitting on the other couch, Megan leaning on her boyfriend with his arm around her.

She spotted her friends and squealed, jumping up to hug them both and say hello. As soon as she had finished she sat back down and curled into Conner's side again. Zatanna sat on the couch in the middle and Artemis sat next to her.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Conner asked.

"I can get it. Have any beer?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah, it's in the fridge. Help yourselves." Megan said. Some kind of fruit spritzer sat in front of her on the coffee table, next to a beer that Artemis guessed to be Conner's. Rocket and Kaldur both held bottled beers.

"Hey, Art, you wanna grab me one of those fruity things?" Zatanna asked as she pointed to Megan's drink. She nodded and went to get them. She found both in the fridge and popped the caps on the edge of the counter, something her uncle taught her when she turned twenty one. She heard someone knock on the door. Artemis left the kitchen and yelled down to the living room.

"I'll get it." She carried the two drinks and went to the door. The person knocked again and she opened the door. Something, or someone rather, hit her and they both went crashing to the floor. Her back hit the floor, her head following soon after. Her eyes were tightly shut as she groaned.

She heard Dick say, "I told you not to lean on the door you idiot."

She opened her eyes and found herself looking at the most amazing green eyes she had ever seen. They were bright emerald and painfully familiar. Artemis snapped herself out of it. "Wanna get off me, slick?" He quickly scrambled off her and offered her his hand. She looked up to see his face and found a pale and freckly man, probably about her age, with vibrant red hair. She eyed his hand for a moment before tilting her chin up and standing on her own. She had dropped the drinks when she got hit but by some miracle they hadn't broke; they just spilled all over her.

Artemis looked down at her now soaked shirt. Great. She looked up at the guy in front of her. "Nice move, Baywatch."

"What?" He asked. She pointed to his shirt which said "LIFEGUARD ON DUTY" in big bold letters with a life preserver. "Oh."

"Who's there?" Megan had come around the corner and saw the state of Artemis's shirt. Her eyes flickered between Artemis's shirt, the floor, and the redhead. Her nurturing side must've won out because she rushed over the Artemis.

"Why don't you go to the bedroom and we can get you a shirt? I'll be right there once I clean this up." Artemis huffed but did as she said. She stomped down the hall as she listened to Megan introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Megan, right? Happy birthday. I'm Wally West, Dick's told me a lot about all of you." But that's as much Artemis heard until she turned into the bedroom.

The king bed was pine with dark blue comforter. A window was on the wall behind the bed and there were two bedside tables. Both held lamps and clocks but they had different personal items. The two sides of the room varied greatly. One side held the closet and had pictures of everyone all over. A small flower sat on the bedside table along with a few bracelets and a little box. The other side of the room was rather Spartan, even the bedside table. It only held a book and a picture of Conner and Megan.

Megan came in soon after. "He feels really bad," she told her as she disappeared into the closet. She came out again with a black tank top. "I'm afraid this is all I have that'd fit you."

"Don't worry about it, Megan." Artemis took off her shirt and handed it to Megan than put on the tank. "Thanks." Megan led her out and they went to the living room, Megan dropping off Artemis's shirt on a hall table on the way.

When they got to the living room everyone was seated and discussing their workdays. Megan took the spot next to Conner leaving the only available spot next to Wally. He stood up when he saw her.

"I'm really sorry."

Artemis shrugged, "Whatever. Just don't lean on any more doors."

Wally cracked a smile. "I'm Wally West. I just moved here from Central City."

"I'm Artemis."

"You're just as beautiful as I pictured. Right down to the eyes." Wally told her. Artemis felt her face heat up.

"Keep it in your pants, Casanova." She warned him and sat down. So did Wally. He handed her a beer and Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. She opened the cap with the coffee table edge and drank from it anyway.

Zatanna launched in a story about this little kid that always came into the shop. He wore a cape and a top hat every time and always carried a bag full of magic tricks and toys. He always needed help with one or the other. Today she had tried to teach the kid to pull flowers out of his sleeve to impress a girl in his class. Once the story ended, Kaldur stood.

"I think now would be a good time for cake. Artemis and Dick, would you mind assisting me?"

"Sure, Kal." Dick said. Artemis nodded and stood, placing her beer on the table. The duo followed him into the kitchen.

Like Artemis, Kaldur had a rather surprising gift. He loved to cook and bake. No one had expected it when he had announced his talent, but it made sense with his general patient and level-headed nature. He worked at the club and at a deli to save up for culinary school. He was close to his goal and would probably be able to enroll for next fall, only a few months away.

He had made the cake and it was _huge_. It had taken both Dick and Kaldur just to maneuver it out of the fridge. It was iced white with pain staking little flowers and butterflies. In loopy handwriting it said "Happy Birthday Megan." Kaldur told them it was the kind with vanilla and little rainbow bits throughout – Megan's favourite.

"It's awesome, Kal," Dick said.

"Thank you." Kaldur said with a smile. Artemis knew he loved getting compliments on his baking.

She got the candles and they put twenty six throughout it, dodging little decorations. Dick lit the candles then held the door while Artemis and Kaldur lifted it. Megan's eyes lit up when she saw it as they placed it in front of her at the brown wooden table.

"Oh, Kaldur. It's beautiful!" Kaldur smiled at her.

"Make a wish!" Zatanna told her excitedly. Her arm was around Dick's waist and his was draped across her shoulders. Rocket held a camera, ready to take the picture when she blew out the candles. Conner stood behind her, a slight smile on his face. Artemis stood off to the side with Kaldur and Wally on either side. Megan seemed to think for a moment before she blew out all twenty six candles. A bright flash erupted from Rocket's camera. Everyone cheered.

"What'd you wish for?" Artemis asked, a smile gracing her face.

"Well, she can't tell you. Then it wouldn't come true." Wally teased lightly. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"I'll go get some plates and forks." She said. Wally followed her.

They walked into the kitchen and Artemis pointed out where the forks were while she got the plates. When she turned back around, Wally was studying her.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Artemis asked. Wally looked startled.

"No. No of course not. Why?" He stuttered. He sounded nervous.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at his suddenly strange behaviour, "You seem familiar."

He gained a sly grin. "Wait. You're right."

Artemis smirked triumphantly, "I knew it. Where-"

"I'm pretty sure we met last night. In my dreams." Wally smirked at her, probably wondering at his own cleverness. Her smile dropped.

Artemis left the kitchen with Wally on her heels. Kaldur cut the cake and handed out pieces. He handed one to everyone except Wally, who requested four. They all dug in.

"This tastes like heaven." Rocket sighed. Kaldur looked flattered.

As they ate, Artemis found herself next to Wally again. She eyed him and he said, "Are you a magnet? Because I seem to be attracted to you."

"Your pick up lines are getting progressively worse."

"Do you know karate? Cause your body is kickin'."

"As a matter of fact, I do know karate. And tae kwon do. And jujutsu. And kickboxing."

"Impressive. So you're some kind of ninja or something?"

"I know how to hold my own, if that's what you mean. I also know how to stop guys from hitting on me." She looked at the little paper plate with his remaining three pieces of cake, "Think you have enough?" She asked sarcastically.

He looked down at it and shrugged, "Fast metabolism," was all he gave as an explanation. "So, painter, huh?"

"What?"

"You're a painter." When she scrunched her eyebrows he looked pointedly at her hands. Artemis looked and sure enough, there were multi colored paint smudges all over them. She looked back at him and nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm a painter. But not professionally."

"You any good?"

"I'm alright, I guess. What do you do?"

Wally nodded, "I'm a scientist. But no offence, you probably wouldn't understand."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "Try me."

"I work in the biochemistry specializing in neurochemistry research."

A smug smile worked its way onto her face. "That's the specific study of neurochemicals; I believe that includes things such as neurotransmitters and other molecules like neuro-active drugs, for example dopamine and serotonin. These all relate back to our neuron function and our central nervous system, right?"

Wally raised an eyebrow, "Impressive. How do you know all that?"

Artemis shrugged, "I like to read. But I'm afraid I've really only dabbled in the sciences. I prefer languages."

"Really? How many languages do you speak?"

"A few. I'm fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Vietnamese. I know some German, Italian, Mandarin, and Japanese. What about you? You speak any foreign languages?"

Wally grinned, "I'm afraid I only got as far as high school Spanish."

"We're going to open presents now." Conner said. Zatanna came and dragged Artemis to the living room before she could protest. They sat on the couch and added their presents to the slowly growing pile. Dick sat next to Wally on the other couch with Kaldur and Rocket joined the girls. Megan took the armchair and Conner sat between her and the presents.

Conner handed a blue tube shaped present to Megan. She announced it was from Kaldur and opened it. She pulled out a beautiful little plant. It was the color of the sea and had a small painted bulb full of water on the bottom.

"It's a flower from my home. It lives in small lakes and streams, so you must keep the bulb filled with water." Kaldur said with a smile. The gift was kind of perfect for her because, like everyone else, Megan and Conner were working at the restaurant so they could save up for something. Megan had wanted to own a little flower shop all her life. Conner wanted to help in any way he could, so he started a little savings account off to the side – all out of his own pocket. Megan didn't know about it, but Artemis had figured it out. She only knew because she ran into him at the bank when he added part of a cheque he got from work to it. Artemis thought it was very kind of him to do that. It reminded her that despite his usually hard exterior, he nursed a soft spot the size of Russia for his little Canadian.

Next she opened Rocket's gift, which were gift cards for her favorite restaurant and her favourite clothing store. Then she opened Zatanna's little gift. She peeked inside and turned cherry red. She looked up, "Zatanna!"

"What is it?" Conner asked.

"Gag gift," Zatanna grinned while Megan tried to keep it away from Conner. Finally, Conner stood and picked up his girlfriend. He took the bag and turned it upside down. A very lacy, black bra and matching thong fell out. Conner flushed to match his girlfriend. Dick and Zatanna openly laughed. Kaldur, Artemis, Rocket, and Wally all tried to hide their own laughter behind their hands. Megan stuffed the offending gifts back in their bag and set them aside with the others. Conner handed her the next present, from Dick. Both their faces had faded to a rosy pink. Dick had given her a home spa kit complete with a face mask, scented soap, bath bombs, and some nail polish. Next she opened a gift from Wally which consisted of three big, different bags of candy.

"I wasn't sure what to get you. Sorry." Wally said.

"Don't be sorry. I wasn't expecting anything from you, anyway." Megan said with her usual cheer, "Conner, do you want to put these on the table for me? We can all share them."

Conner nodded and opened the bags then set them on the table. Kaldur reached forward and grabbed a handful of jelly beans.

The next gift was from Artemis. It was a medium-sized rectangle that was covered in loose, pink wrapping paper. Conner handed it to Megan and she smiled at Artemis before carefully pulling off the paper and folding it. She put it inside the blue bag that sat next to her carefully, as she had with all the other presents. She turned the canvas over slowly and gasped. It was a painting of the four girls, a copy of a picture Artemis had taped to the back. It was from just a few months ago, when they had all had a girl's day out. In the picture were Artemis, Rocket, Megan, Zatanna, and Dinah Lance, Artemis's surrogate mother. Dinah had been dating Artemis's Uncle Ollie on and off for as long as she could remember. Even though they fought frequently, Artemis could tell it kept the passion alive. Especially since they always made up in the end.

Dinah was very close with all the girls and had taken to mentoring Zatanna and Artemis, giving them a female figure to look up to. When Megan moved to Gotham from Canada, she had gone to live with her Uncle Jon and with her mother a hundred miles away, Dinah had stepped up to the plate.

The picture had been taken in a photo booth so all the girls were making funny faces. Zatanna and Artemis were in front, Zee was making the rock-on symbol with her hand and she had stuck her tongue out. Artemis was mid eye-roll but was laughing. Megan was behind Artemis and making a heart at the camera with a smile. Dinah was between Artemis and Zatanna and was faking surprise as she got kiss on the cheek from Rocket, who was behind Zatanna.

"Aw, Artemis. This is adorable! Thank you so much," she smiled hugely as they passed around the painting.

Conner stood up, "I have something else for you. I have to go get it." He said. He walked off to the direction of the spare room. He soon came back holding a tiny white and grey fluff ball. The baby husky squirmed around in his grasp and Megan squealed.

"Can we keep her?" Megan sunk onto the floor as Conner sat beside her. He carefully put the restless puppy on her lap and it leapt up to began to lick her face. She laughed and that only egged the puppy on.

"Him. He's a boy. I got him from the pound. His name's Wolf." Conner told her. Wolf was finished with licking her face and was now chasing his fluffy white tail. Zatanna had left her chair to coo at the dog with Megan while everyone else watched the over active puppy.

Wolf jumped out of the girl's grasp and leapt onto the couch. It sniffed around Rocket then went in the open space between her and Artemis that was previously occupied by Zee. The dog sat back with his bum in the air. He wiggled his bottom before leaping onto Artemis's lap. He began licking her face and she tried to pull away. As he attacked her, she turned her face away. A smile had broken onto her lips and she was laughing. She caught Wally's eye and saw him smiling.

Artemis finally wrestled the pup off her and he raced back to Megan. She smoothed out her ponytail and picked up her beer, taking a sip of it. Her cheeks felt warm and despite her efforts to pull her hair back, she felt little wisps of hair fall around her face.

Wally stood up casually and wandered over, taking Zatanna's spot.

"Alright, you guess? That painting was more than alright. It was awesome." He said, taking a drink of his own beer as he looked at her.

To Artemis's great annoyance, she felt a blush grow on her cheeks. That happened all too often around this boy, and she had only just met him.

"Speaking of paintings, isn't your show tomorrow?" Zatanna asked, apparently overhearing him.

Artemis nodded, "Yeah. It starts at seven. Are you guys still coming?" A chorus of 'yes' and 'of course' rang out. Artemis smiled.

"Hey, Wally, you should come." Dick's face a gained a grin that told Artemis he was up to no good. It was uncanny how alike his mischievous smile looked compared to his girlfriend's. Artemis opened her mouth to argue. Wally grinned as he interrupted her.

"I'd love to. Where is it?" Artemis face palmed.

"I can just give you a ride." Dick told him. Wally nodded. Dick turned to Artemis, "Speaking of getting cars, you need to borrow one?" Because he was adopted son of Bruce Wayne, he had access to Bruce's car collection, and that meant he probably could lend Artemis a car for the show and Bruce would never know.

"No, I'm good. Uncle Ollie's gonna drive me and Zee." Artemis replied. Dick nodded.

"Do you mind if I turn on the television? I would like to see who won the basketball game," Kaldur pitched in. Conner nodded and tossed him the remote. Kaldur thanked him and turned on the television. He flipped to the news channel but instead of sports highlights, it was breaking news. The LIVE symbol flashed in the corner as a woman with long brown hair in a grey suit began reporting.

"This is Jane Michelson, reporting for Gotham News. A new super villain is robbing Gotham City bank. He goes by the name of Stone Eyes." The image cut to muscular men dressed in all black. They were being led by a man in a black trench coat and a black fedora hat. Suddenly, he looked straight at the camera. He was wearing sunglasses, which he tipped down to reveal completely solid grey eyes. The camera fizzed and cut. The image went back to Jane Michelson. "That footage was taken just ten minutes ago. When he looked at the camera, it turned to solid rock. Anyone he looks at straight on without those sunglasses becomes stone. We are unsure at this time if he controls it, or if it is out of his control. We have lost three security guards to him so far. He holds fifty people in the bank and is demanding not money, but a good fight. Please, Gotham heroes. Come to our aid, as you have so many times before. This is Jane Michelson, reporting for Gotham News."

The news showed more shots of the villain. Suddenly, Wally and Dick both stood up.

"You know I completely forgot. I have to get home. Now. Because of – a reason. Um. My stove. I left it on. Shit." Wally said suddenly. His mouth had set itself into a grim line and his eyes were determined.

"I'll give you a ride," Dick followed him out of the room with a similar expression and giant strides, but only after pecking Zatanna quickly on the cheek. Six pairs of eyes followed them out.

"That was weird." Rocket said bluntly.

Artemis added, "_They're _weird."

Everyone laughed. Rocket gave her a high five, "Preach."

The sports came on and everyone listened intently. The Gotham Panthers had won the game, much to the delight of everyone, especially Kaldur. Conner went and got another round of beers for everyone. By the time he had come back there was another breaking news update.

"This is Jane Michelson reporting at Gotham News. I am with The Flash and Nightwing, who came to save the day from Gotham's newest villain, Stone Eyes. Tell me, Nightwing, how did you do it?"

The super hero looked a little annoyed. Artemis didn't blame him though; he just took down some crazed super villain. The poor guy was probably tired. "We just want the public to know that while we secured the rest of the hostages, Stone is still on the loose. We don't want anyone to approach him. We'll get him soon, we'll promise the Gotham citizens that," Nightwing was calm, his demeanor serious. He reminded Artemis a little of his mentor.

The Flash spoke up, "Well, gorgeous, we'd also ask anyone who has been through a tough time or traumatic experience that you don't turn to violence. We ask that you seek the help of a friend, or better yet a professional. It's better for everyone in the long run, babe."

Nightwing whispered something to Flash and he nodded in response. Then, Nightwing turned on his heel and walked away. The camera followed as he leapt onto a dumpster and used a batarang attached to a rope to swing onto a building, casual as can be. He was then lost to the dark skyline of Gotham. The reporter looked a little lost for a minute before she quickly recovered.

"Flash, one more thing before you run off on me. Do you have a message for any girls out there?"

Flash laughed and made to move his hand as if to run it through his hair, but stopped when he realized it was covered by his cowl. "That's cute, babe, but you know I only have eyes for you."

"Oh, come on Flash. There must be someone special."

"Well, there is one girl. She's absolutely gorgeous and she's intelligent but I don't think she likes me very much. You might call her an anti damsel. So if she's watching, hey beautiful." He winked at the camera. Artemis froze. She couldn't believe he just said that. On _television._

Zatanna gasped, causing almost everyone in the room to jump, "You called yourself that back this morning! He's talking about you, isn't he?" Artemis was a bit lost for words and couldn't think of anything quick enough so she just shushed her.

Jane Michelson grinned, "So, who is this anti damsel?"

"Secret. Don't wanna get her in trouble cause of me. Gotta run, babe." Flash said before zooming off.

The smiling reporter looked proudly into the camera, "This is Jane Michelson reporting for Gotham News."

The camera cut to the anchor men and women and Megan burst out the question Artemis knew at least a few other people were thinking.

"What does Zatanna mean he's talking about you?"

Artemis slapped her face into her hands while Zatanna explained. When she had finished, she looked very proud of herself. Artemis was slowly getting more and more annoyed with the hero and her roommate. She knew her face must've resembled a tomato.

She sighed, "Nothing. Happened. He came to help me when I was attacked in an alley last night but I had everything under control." She paused and checked the time. 11:37. Thank goodness. She leapt up, trying but failing at not looking eager. "Well, it's late. Zee and I had better get headed home."

"Do you want us to walk you? We could bring Wolf." Megan told her. Obviously, she was worried something would happen again.

Artemis eyed the now snoozing fluff ball, thinking the worst it would probably do is lick someone to death. She shook her head. "Nah, we'll be fine. We can take a cab. Goodnight!" She grabbed her roommate's hand and dragged her out the door.

As promised, they took a cab back to their apartment then they both trudged upstairs. The roommates went straight to bed, both a little buzzed from the beers. Artemis changed into an oversized t shirt and shorts then cracked her window. She flopped into the charcoal bed spread eagled. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking she would think long and hard about her day. Instead, she fell asleep. Who could blame her? It'd been a long day.

_The sun goes down_

_The stars come out_

_And all that counts_

_Is here and now_

_My universe will never be the same_

_I'm glad you came_


	2. Chapter 2

_I am not a child now_

_I can take care of myself_

_I mustn't let them down now_

_I mustn't let them see me cry_

_Cause I'm fine, I'm fine._

Artemis handed out the drinks to the elderly people at her table, made sure they didn't need anything else, then turned and walked off. She had been at the restaurant for five hours already today and it was only twelve. Artemis had got there so early so she could get off early at quarter to six; she wanted to have time to pack her pictures and bring them to set up at the museum. She also wanted to have plenty of time left over just in case anything went wrong, as it most definitely probably would. It wasn't like she was the only aspiring artist that was going to be there, she was picked out of a few hundred applicants to join ninety nine other artists at the show. Representatives from Gotham University would be there and they would be giving out five scholarships for art school. Artemis didn't think she'd get it, not with all the competition. She was doing the show to get herself out there, maybe make a bit of a name for herself and leave a good impression. Hell, she did it for a few kicks too.

Artemis went to the front desk of the restaurant to assist some customers as they paid at the till. Since her only table was occupied by two regulars she knew would take their sweet time she knew she had plenty of time to help at the front. There was a line of people waiting to be seated so Artemis began to call in other waitresses to start showing them to their seats.

She had her head ducked as she asked how many people for the table then she would hand off the menus to the waiting waitress and mark the table was taken. She sighed as she asked for about the millionth time, "Welcome to Ronnie's. How many will be at your table?"

"Just one, Shortbow."

Artemis knew that voice. She looked up and felt her face break out into a grin. There stood her Uncle Ollie. He had blonde hair with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He wore a simple black t shirt with a sport coat and jeans. He was grinning this half grin of his and his green eyes were crinkled.

"What're you doing here? I thought we were meeting at six thirty?" Artemis asked, the smile still on her face. She was always glad to see her uncle.

"Does an uncle need an excuse to come see his favourite girl?" He said. Artemis rolled her eyes. "I need to talk to you, actually. Dinah sent me."

"I get off on break in about ten minutes. Can I come talk to you then?"

"Take all the time you need, Shortbow." He leaned over and kissed her forehead then sauntered off to his own table, not bothering to wait for a waitress.

For the next ten minutes Artemis helped the whirlwind of customers until her manager told her she could go on break. She snuck a cup of Coke and slipped over to where her uncle was sitting, nursing a coffee of his own.

He eyed the drink, "Did you pay for that?"

Artemis waved her hand, "I'll do it later," Not. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"  
>"Di told me to tell you about some charity ball she's hosting at the house. She wants to take you and the girls shopping to get dresses."<p>

"Dress shopping? Ugh. You know how much I hate these things. I mean, it's a great cause but it's so _boring._ It doesn't help with all the creepy guys asking me to dance." Artemis complained. She wasn't even exaggerating. Last time, she counted twenty six guys all asked her to dance before she ran out of excuses. It was exhausting.

"Well maybe if you brought a date that wouldn't happen," her uncle told her. Unlike most father figures in the world, Oliver thought it'd be good for his niece to start dating and to put herself out there. But only after he had used his best threats on them, his favourites including. "I know seven different types of martial arts. Learned from some of the best in the world", "See this? This is a bow. Using these arrows it can shoot a moving target thirty feet away with fatal results. Care to help me test it out?", and "Nice to meet you. I'm Oliver Queen." Always with a smile.

"Uncle Ollie, I told you. I just want to get through these next few years then I'll start dating again."

"Well if you'd let me just lend you some money-"

"I don't want handouts. I know you mean well but I have to learn to make it on my own."

He smiled fondly at her. "You always were too independent. So, will you go dress shopping or not?"

"On you?" Artemis asked.

He smiled wider. "Of course."

"What time?"

"How's one o'clock?"

"That's good. I don't have work tomorrow anyway. I'll go. Besides, I don't think I ever had a choice with Dinah."

He laughed. "Has anyone ever? I swear the woman is stubborn as a mule when she wants something." Despite his words, his tone was something adoring. "Dinah also said something about making it a girl's night? She talked to Zatanna about all of you sleeping over there or something."

"Oh. Well that sounds fun, I guess. We haven't had one of those in a long time." She tried to sound enthusiastic about it. Honestly, she liked having girl's days. They were refreshing after working so much. But she hated when they were full of clothes, and makeup, and just generally _girl_ things. Usually they did something that everyone enjoyed, like going to the amusement park, or the indoor water park, or to the movies.

"I know you really hate this girly stuff, Artemis, but you know how much your friends and Dinah love it."

Artemis sighed. "I know."

"Good." Ollie leaned back in his chair and interlocked his fingers behind his head, "So, Artemis. How's your life been? I haven't seen you for a while."

"You saw me last week!"

"That's what I mean. That was a whole six days ago."

Artemis rolled her eyes good naturedly. "I've been good. Nothing really new. How about you?"

"Aside from Dinah driving me up the wall?" They both laughed, "I've been doing pretty good too."

Artemis glanced at the clock on the wall behind Ollie, "I'd better be getting back to work. See you at six thirty?"

Her uncle stood and she did with him. He ruffled her hair, "Yep. See you then, Shortbow." He dropped some cash on the table and turned to leave but looked back. "About the date: why don't you bring a friend?" He left and Artemis grabbed their cups to bring to the kitchen. She thought about what he had said about bringing a friend. That was a good idea, actually. Dick and Conner both had girlfriends but if she asked Kaldur he might say yes.

Artemis worked absent mindedly for another hour at the front until she got reassigned to waitressing.

"Artemis," her manager called out. He was a short man, with too much hair on his face and not quite enough on the top of his head. He took much too much pride in his job and even more in his polka-dotted clip on tie. Artemis had to restrain a groan as he called her name. "I need you to pick up some of Jamie's slack. She went on break and is late coming back. You've got table twenty three."

The blonde sighed with an eye roll, "Yes sir." She always had to pick up Jamie's slack. Artemis suspected the only reason she hadn't been fired yet was she was doing, well, _favours_ for said manager. It made Artemis want to be sick.

She strode over to the other side of the restaurant, taking out her notepad on the way. She was filling in the table number at the top of the ticket when she arrived.

"Welcome to Ronnie's. I'm-"

"Hey Artemis." A familiar voice said. She looked up to see Dick smiling at her. He was wearing a dress shirt with a suit jacket next to him, looking distinctly out of place in his work clothes at the dingy diner. To Artemis's surprise, seated across from him was none other than Wally. He wore a faded black t shirt with his red jacket on the little hook. He was grinning.

"Hey, Dick. Wally," she held up her notepad, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Coke." Dick said.

"7up." Wally said.

Artemis nodded and walked off, stopping at two of her tables on the way to see how they were doing with their food. She filled up the cups and balanced them with ease on her tray as she went back to Dick and Wally's table.

"So, why are you guys here, anyway? Don't you have nicer places by Wayne labs?"

"Yeah, but we both wanted cheap and greasy food," Wally told her.

"Yeah, Wally also wanted to see you." Dick said with a snicker. Artemis raised an eyebrow while Wally turned beet red. Dick just grinned. Wally tried to cover it up with his usual flirtatiousness.

"Well, babe, who wouldn't want to see you? You aren't named after a goddess for nothing."

She rolled her eyes. "So what can I do for you?" Artemis asked. Dick choked on drink.

"Well, for starters I'd like a big bowl of heaping you-"

"I _mean_ what can I get you to eat?" Artemis interrupted. Dick snickered and Wally grinned. Artemis had to fight the urge to roll her eyes again.

"I'll get Ronnie's special burger with fries." Dick said, handing his menu over.

"That sounds good. I'll get five. And two orders of fries on the side." Wally handed his menu over as if he didn't just order enough food to feed two sumo wrestlers.

"Excuse me?" Artemis asked.

"Oh-uh. Fast metabolism." Wally patted his stomach with an innocent smile with Dick stifled a laugh.

"Whatever you say, fatso." Artemis picked up their menus and walked off. She gave the order to the cook. The cook was a short man with a large hat and an even larger belly. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the ticket.

"Ain't there only two guys at this here table?" Artemis nodded her head. "Then why is there enough food ordered for six?"

"One of them says he has a fast metabolism."

"Yeah, an' my ass smells like spring flowers."

"Are you gonna make it or not?" Artemis propped a hand on her cocked hip.

The cook grumbled but loaded six patties on the grill. The blonde sent him a smug smirk then went back to check on her other tables.

"ORDER UP. BLONDIE'S BOTTOMLESS PIT TABLE." The cook called out twenty minutes later. Artemis sighed. The cook didn't know anyone's names and it annoyed her to no end.

One of her co workers was already there at the opening that looked onto the kitchen and held a shelf for the food, loading some of the plates onto his tray. Artemis eyed the cook.

"Artemis." She told him.

"Wassat, blondie?" The cook rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming. They'd been over this before. Countless times.

"My name is Artemis. Ar-te-mis." She pronounced every syllable slowly, as if he wouldn't understand. "Not blondie, not that one, not waitress. Artemis. Got it?"

"Whatever you say, _Artemis._" The cook sneered. Artemis sent him a sarcastic smile.

"Wonderful." She picked up the remaining burgers and led the co worker off to their table. The other waiter put down his food first then left while Wally and Dick made room for Artemis's plates. When they finally crammed all six plates plus two fry baskets onto the table, Artemis stood up straight.

"Anything else?"

"Nah, we're good, thanks." Dick said. Artemis nodded curtly before turning and wandering back to help more tables. Ronnie's was always short on staff, which means it was always incredibly difficult for its waitresses and cooks to keep up at during mealtime rushes. But, it also meant Artemis served more tables, and earned more tips, which she really couldn't complain about. Especially when she usually made more in tips than in her actual paycheck.

She cleared up a table that an older couple had just occupied, gathering the coffee cups in her hands. She turned around and strode towards the kitchen. She wasn't really paying attention – her mind was wandering to the art show tonight. Admittedly, she was a little nervous. What if they didn't like her work? What if they thought she 'wasn't ready'? What if she was too young? She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't see the muscular red head as she ran into him.

Artemis fell back onto her butt, as did Wally. She sighed heavily and moved to her knees to begin picking up broken coffee cup.

"Sorry." She mumbled. Wally had moved to his knees to help her pick up the broken shards.

"Don't worry about it. I know my hotness can be blinding." He told her.

"More like the shade of your hair." Luckily, the cup had only broken into a few pieces and they had them cleaned up quickly then folded into a rag Artemis had in her waist apron. Then both stood up.

"Thanks, Wallace."

"No problem, _Artie_." The corners of Artemis's lips quirked but she held the smile off. She began to walk past him, but he grabbed her upper arm. The blonde stopped and looked at him expectantly.

"We actually came by to see if you needed help. You know, with tonight?"

"I'm good. My uncle's gonna help me. Zatanna too. But thanks, I guess." She turned and walked to the kitchen to throw out the cup. She watched through the cook's window as Dick and Wally paid at the till and left. She turned back around and got back to work.

Finally, five forty five rolled around and she ditched her apron and tray for her jacket and purse. She had gained more tips than she thought she would and checked her watch. If she hurried, she had time for a quick run to the bank.

She walked down to the corner and entered the giant brick building. Everything inside was made of concrete and bricks, from the counters to the floors to the giant random pillars. The bank wasn't too busy, just three men and four women plus the tellers. She got in line for a machine and checked her watch again. She had time. Artemis took a deep breath and told herself to calm down.

A machine freed up and Artemis went to use it. She was almost finished depositing her money when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and held it between her shoulder and her cheek as pressed the cold buttons of the machine.

"Hello?"

"_Hey."_ It was Dick.

"Hey, Dick. What's up?"

"_Can you tell Zee that I just found Tibbar in my laundry basket? He must've snuck in her purse or something. I'd tell her but her phone's dead."_

"Sure. You want her to pick him up before the show?"

"_Doesn't matter. I put him in a bowl with some carrots so he should be good for a while-"_

**BAM.**

The door flung open and slammed into the wall, almost causing Artemis to drop the phone.

"_Artemis, what the hell was that?"_

Artemis watched as black clad men ran into the bank, all holding large and impressive looking guns. Artemis would bet confidently that maybe one or two of them knew how to use them. They all started shouting about how 'this was a hold up' and 'get your fat asses on the fucking ground.' Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Dick, I gotta go. Some idiots are holding up my bank." She hung up the cell phone before he could argue then dropped it in her purse. The dumbasses seemed to be finally getting everything under control.

"Okay, douche bags, get to the wall. Now!" One of them yelled, pointing his gun at the wall with the machines. Artemis knew right away these guys were amateurs. If they had been professionals, they would've lined everyone against the windows to block any sniper's shots. And they would've had one man shouting, not every one of them. The result of their mistake was confused chaos. She turned to the woman to her right, about to comment on their stupidity, when she noticed she was crying. Artemis looked around and saw similar looks of fear on the other people's faces. Artemis knew she should probably be scared, but really, this was _Gotham._ If you hadn't been caught up in at least one bank heist in your life then you must've never left your house. She was more annoyed than anything. Who did these assholes think they were, taking her hard earned money? She had to get up at six this morning so she could get to work on time. Six!

They told them to take off any jewelry they had and to put it in a sack that one of the scrawnier thugs was walking around with. Artemis discreetly slipped her watch into the back of her jeans and turned out her pockets. The thug reached her and held out his bag full of goodies. Artemis shrugged.

"Nothing?" He asked.

"Sorry." Artemis said sarcastically.

"How is it a girlie like you don't wear jewelry?"

Artemis smiled, "I like to think of myself as a modern woman."

"Yo! What's the hold up? The boss'll be here soon!" A thug asked from where he stood at the door. He was more fat than muscle but huge nonetheless.

"This one's bein' smart. Says she don't have no jewelry. Says she a 'modern woman'." The stumpy idiot answered. Artemis resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

The giant one grinned, revealing missing teeth. "Well then there's only one way to be sure she ain't lyin'. Search her."

The man in front of her grinned too. "Alright, _sweetheart,_ take off them clothes."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "You're shitting me right? No." The man seemed a little surprised at how blunt she was. He raised his gun and told her again.

"Take off them clothes."

"I'm not answering you again. You heard me the first time." She crossed her arms defiantly and continued to glare. The man looked helplessly back at the man at the door. Artemis was only vaguely aware of the other hostages watching with fear.

"You fucking numb brain." Artemis raised her eyebrows at the insult the man at the door had just thrown at the man in front of her. If these men were anything, it was creative. She'd give them that. "You have the fucking gun."

The man in front of her raised it again, "Oh right."

"Here comes the boss. Everyone on the floor!" Another thug said. Artemis was about to follow everyone else when the man in front of her stopped her.

"Okay, bitch, you're gonna do as I say or-" Artemis didn't bother listening to the rest. She was going to be late for her show, and she'd be damned if she missed out on the scholarship because of these wankers. And he just called her bitch. She threw her foot up and into his crotch, grabbing his gun as he doubled over. She slammed her elbow between his shoulder blades and hooked her feet through his legs and around one of his feet. She pushed her leg forward and the thug fell. She swung it up and aimed it at the nearest guy. He made to grab one of the hostages and she pointed it up to fire a warning shot, only to have it click. She checked for bullets. Empty. Of course.

The man at the door levelled his gun at her. "Okay, no more shittin' games. On the motherfucking ground." Artemis narrowed her eyes but held up her hands and shrunk to her knees. She laid down on her stomach and brushed up against the people next to her.

"Ever defiant, aren't you, beautiful?"

Artemis turned to see none other than The Flash lying next to her. It would be a miracle he hadn't been spotted in his non-too-discreet uniform, except the obnoxious red had been changed to black.

"What the hell are you doing on the ground?" She whispered. A voice on the other side of her answered.

"Well, I believe his exact words were, 'Okay, no more shittin' games. On the motherfucking ground.'" Artemis looked over to see Nightwing lying beside her, an all-too familiar grin on his face. "If you can be perplexed can you be plexed?"

"What?" Artemis shook her head, "Forget it. Are you guys gonna, you know, do something?"

"I dunno, gorgeous, it looked like you had everything under control," The Flash smirked cheekily. Artemis glared.

"At least I was doing something."

"Oh so _you're_ this infamous anti-damsel he won't shut up about. Wait, if you can be infamous you can be famous too, right?"

Artemis whipped back to look at Flash, "If I'm an anti-damsel you're a wannabe hero."

"Zing," Nightwing laughed quietly.

"Wannabe? I'll have you know-" Flash said indignantly but Artemis cut him off.

"What are you waiting for again? The next ice age?" Artemis turned her attention back to Nightwing.

"Oh simple, really. They said their boss is coming so we're waiting for the boss." Nightwing answered.

"And if we attacked now, then the boss would get scared away," Flash finished. Artemis could see the logic in that. She was about to supply her retort when the little door alarm dinged, signalling someone's entrance.

All three looked up to see a man in a long black trench coat and a matching fedora. He took off his sunglasses to reveal solid grey rock in his sockets. Stone Eyes. He was shorter than Artemis would've thought, maybe about Zee's height. He walked with a slight limp. He had a crescent scar on his left cheek and his mouth was small. His cheeks were sunken and his skull seemed to stick out of the thin skin on his face, as did the bones in his hands.

"He look, he's still limping. I told you I hit him hard last time. I think this is our queue, buddy." Flash said.

"We are so gonna be plexed, KF- uh. I mean F." Nightwing said.

"KF! Kid Flash! I knew it! You used to wear that obnoxious yellow suit. I _knew_ there were two of you running around," Artemis whispered in victory. The boys exchanged a look.

"We'll talk about this later." Flash warned her before they both jumped up. Artemis watched as they leapt into action, waiting for a window. Flash went straight for the thugs, tying them up and throwing them using his speed. Nightwing ran to Stone Eyes and they began exchanging blows. Artemis shot up and used the heroes' distraction. She hustled the hostages outside and turned back to see Flash knocked to the ground. Artemis narrowed her eyes then ran at the thug, throwing her foot into his face. Archery wasn't the only thing her uncle taught her.

She ducked a blow from the thug and someone's arm wrapped around her throat from behind. She shoved her elbow up his ribs and kicked in his knee, he released her immediately. Another thug ran at her waving his gun. Artemis went into a back handspring and ducked behind a large marble pillar. The man continued shooting. Artemis looked around for something to use. She spotted a chunk of broken brick on the ground and picked it up. It was heavy. Good. She dove out from behind the pillar and threw it, nailing the thug in the shoulder. She took her chance and ran at him, kicking him across the face with one foot then spinning to hit him in the stomach with the other. She turned to look for any more thugs but found them all on the floor. She saw both Flash and Nightwing attacking Stone but he was faster than he looked. He caught almost every blow they threw at him, even the ones from Flash. There were a few, however, that did hit him. Each one of those just egged the heroes on.

Artemis was looking for something, anything she could do when out of nowhere, a huge thug dropped down. With one sweep of his arm both Flash and Nightwing had flown and hit the wall. Artemis narrowed her eyes and ran to him but got knocked aside too. She hit the wall with a grunt. The blonde opened her eyes but the room spun so she shut them tightly. She waited for the pounding to decrease a little. By the time she had opened them again she found Flash and Nightwing standing over her, worried expressions on their faces. Artemis rubbed her head and looked around.

"Where's Stone?"

"Got away. The big guy, he goes by Bestial, is a hired thug. His involvement means he's getting big underground. We'll get them next time." Nightwing told her. "How's your head? You hit that wall pretty hard."

"Fine. I don't think I have a concussion." Artemis stood a bit shakily. Something dug into the back of her waist and she pulled the watch out from the back of her jeans.

"Shit!" She said.

"Have some place to be?" Flash asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. And I'm late." She winced, "And my head hurts."

"Do you wanna go get it checked out? There's an ambulance outside checking the hostages." Nightwing asked. He seemed worried, more worried than some would be for a girl that they'd never met before. Artemis filed that away to think about later.

"No. I gotta get a cab and I gotta get home." Artemis said stubbornly.

"I could give you a ride." Flash said. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"In what, your Flashmobile?" She said sarcastically. Nightwing snickered. Flash shook his head.

"Nope." He held out his arms. Then Artemis got it.

"No way."

"You won't be able to get a cab out there, Artemis. There's too many cop cars." Nightwing said.

"How do you know my name?" She'd never told it to him. Nightwing seemed to scramble for a moment before he said, cool as a cucumber, "Flash told me."

"C'mon. I don't bite, beautiful. It'll be way faster." He took a step towards her.

"You'll bring me straight home?"

"Where else would I bring you?"

"And no one will see us? Because they might think I'm the anti damsel then I could be used against you and I really have no intention of being kidnapped, thank you very much."

"But you _are_ the anti damsel. No, no one will see you. They'll only see the red streak." Flash said.

"The cops are approaching the door. I think it's time for us to split." Nightwing said.

"Fine. But if you try anything, so help me-" Artemis began.

"Yeah, yeah you'll kick my ass into next century." Suddenly, Flash was beside her. He scooped her up bridal style and Artemis had to throw her arms around his neck to keep her balance. Nightwing openly laughed.

"See you later, KF. Flash. This is a lot harder getting used to than I thought." Nightwing said, "Bye, Artemis."

"Bye." Artemis said. Flash nodded at the other hero then began to run.

At first, it was more than a little terrifying. The world was a blur and the wind whipped Artemis's hair around her wildly. She has to close her eyes against the wind and press her face against Flash's neck. Her arms tightened around him and so did his around her. He said something that Artemis didn't quite catch then she heard a boom. So they broke the sound barrier. The boom wasn't as loud as she would've expected it to be, but surprising nonetheless. Very reassuring. But after a while, it was almost relaxing. It sent her adrenaline rushing and made her blood pound. She began to notice the little things. She could smell his deodorant and sweat. But she could also smell discreet cologne and cinnamon. The spandex of his uniform was smooth against her skin and warm from him. A portion of it had been scrunched into her hand at his other shoulder. She could hear the thump of his pulse and his soft, quick breaths. Artemis began to smile.

Finally, they screeched to a halt. It couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes. Artemis let go of a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Artemis lifted her face from his neck carefully. She suddenly felt dizzy again, probably because of the hit she took, and had to lean her forehead on the side of his head. "A warning would be nice." Flash chuckled. It was just then she noticed that she was in her apartment building, right in front of her door. "Shit, that was fast."

"They don't call me Flash for nothing, babe." He told her. The door opened to her apartment to reveal none other than her uncle. Great. This just kept getting better.

Artemis wiggled around in Flash's arms, trying to get him to let go, but he held tightly. He was too busy staring at her uncle. Artemis sighed and shoved her elbow into his ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He released her and she landed lightly on her feet, like a cat.

Oliver nodded his head stiffly, "Flash."

Flash seemed to back off a little, "Mr. Queen." They stared at each other, not glaring but not smiling either.

"You guys know each other?" Artemis asked as she crossed her arms.

"Artemis, what happened?" Her uncle asked, back to concerned care giver. Artemis waved her hand carelessly.

"Just a little hold up at the bank. That new villain, Stone whats-his-face. Flash boy was there, so was Nightwing. Flashy was just giving me a ride home cause the road was clogged by cops and I couldn't get a cab."

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

"No-"

"She hit her head, sir. She ushered the other hostages out but was too stubborn to follow them out." Flash told him, "She ended up taking down a few thugs but one knocked her against a wall."

"Artemis." Uncle Ollie sighed.

"What? _You're _the one who taught me how to fight."

"Yeah, for self defense."

"It was self defense. And if it weren't for me, Flashy would have a nasty bump on his head."

"Don't drag me into this!" Flash exclaimed. Oliver checked his watch.

"We have to get going or we'll be late. We packed all the paintings in my car. I sent Zatanna to the show already to start setting up. I was supposed to wait for you. Dick left me a message saying you'd be late but he didn't say why."

"Okay, thanks." Artemis turned to the Flash, "Thanks for the ride, wannabe hero."

"Anytime, anti damsel." Flash grinned. Artemis turned on her heel and passed her very confused uncle. As she marched down the hallway she could hear her uncle and Flash still talking.

"Did you know I knew several different types of martial arts? I learned from some of the best in the world." Artemis got to her room before she heard anything else. She exchanged her coffee stained clothes for a white button down and dark dress pants. She pulled on high heeled boots and washed her face, reapplying her eyeliner and mascara and brushing out her hair to tie it in its customary ponytail. She grabbed her leather jacket and left her room.

"If Zee took your car how are we getting there?" Artemis inquired as they went down the stairs.

"I called a cab."

"Your kind of cab or a normal person's cab?" To that, her uncle just smiled. When they got outside Artemis got her answer. There sat a black Lincoln, its driver waiting to open the door. Artemis sent her uncle a look he pretended not to see. She got in first and slid down to the window seat and her uncle slid in after her.

As they rode to the gallery, Artemis picked at her fingernails and bit her lip, as she always did when she was nervous. Her uncle noticed and placed his large hand on top of hers.

"They'll love your work. I know it." The car rolled to a stop and Ollie kissed the top of his niece's head. "Come on, it opens in five minutes." The driver opened the door and they both went up the stairs two at a time. They walked into the white marble building.

"Zatanna said they called and said your spot was on the third floor by the 'giant bust of the bald guy'. Her words, not mine. I'm going to go find Dinah. You okay?"

Artemis nodded then started up the marble stairs. They wound up and up and up. By the time Artemis made it to the top, her face was flushed and she was breathing a little heavier than normal. She turned right at the top of the stairs and walked at a slow, confident pace past the other artists; most of which looked at her with superiority because of her youth. She turned the corner and saw Zatanna standing with her back to her as she straightened one of her pictures. Artemis walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Her roommate turned around and grinned at her before ducking her head in to whisper, "Thank god you're here. Beret boy keeps giving me this creepy look." She tilted her head to the left and Artemis followed it. She saw a man with a black beret and an uneven mustache. When he saw her looking he looked away quickly. Artemis chuckled to herself then looked to her paintings.

"Thanks for putting them out for me. I got held up at the bank. Some idiots tried to rob it then more idiots came to stop them."

"By idiots you mean..."

"That new villain, Rock Head or whatever."

"No I mean the other idiots."

"Oh. Nightwing."

"You said idiots. Plural. Who else was there?"

Artemis looked over to the wall. "Flash," She mumbled. She expected some kind of remark from her raven haired friend but received nothing. She looked up only to see a giant smirk on her friend's face. She opened her mouth to say something but Artemis cut her off, "Not a word."

Zatanna went with the safer option and turned back to the paintings, "These turned out even better than I thought they would."

"You really think so?"

"Duh. I think they're awesome."

The paintings _were_ pretty cool, if Artemis did say so herself. She had painted all her friends but with a twist. She painted them all as superheroes. Conner was 'Superboy' in a simple black t shirt with the customary red symbol and jeans. He was holding up a lamp post. Megan was who Artemis called 'Miss Martian'. She had green skin and was wearing a white shirt and blue skirt and cape. Her eyes were glowing green and she was floating. Kaldur was 'Aqualad' because of his home back on the shore. His tattoos snaked down his arms, on display because of the red tank and long black pants. He held two swords that were crossed and made of water. Rocket was wearing a navy colored shirt and pair of pants with a tan jacket. She was surrounded by an aura of fuchsia and appeared to be flying. Zatanna was wearing fish net stocking and a white leotard with a black bowtie and short black jacket. Her gloved hands were cupped and held over one another, a glowing blue orb between them. She was merely named 'Zatanna' because she was a magician too. Dick was the one she had a problem with. Eventually she had decided on an iron man-esque type of thing because of his position at Wayne Enterprises. He wore a blue metal outfit that would've made him look like a robot if not for the fact he was holding his mask. He was smirking and had a fist planted on his hip.

Soon, people started to walk in. Artemis and Zatanna went to sit off to the side on some stools Zatanna brought from their apartment. They watched as people crowded around each painting. They wouldn't be told who the scholarship representatives were and Artemis found her palms got a bit sweaty every time someone stopped to examine her work, which was just about everyone there. Artemis and Zatanna were talking when Kaldur and Rocket approached them. They were both smiling.

"These are kickin' Artemis." Rocket told her. Artemis smiled.

"They are very flattering. We are all very proud to be your inspiration." Kaldur told her.

"Thanks, guys. I'm glad you like them." They talked for the next while about the pictures and their days until they were approached by Dinah and Oliver. Dinah looked beautiful as always, with long blonde hair and startlingly blue eyes. She wore a black pencil skirt and emerald green shirt. She had lived with Oliver for four years and while they loved each other very much, they argued all the time. Sometimes, when it was at its worst, Oliver had to sleep on the couch. In his own mansion. But they always made up the next day and they always forgot what they had been fighting about in the first place.

She saw Artemis and smiled warmly, "Hey, Artemis. These are great!"

"Thanks, Dinah." Artemis grinned. While she would never admit it, she held Dinah's opinion in very high regards.

Kaldur, Rocket, Dinah, and Ollie left to go look around more and to check out Artemis's competition. Artemis felt two arms throw themselves around her from behind and somewhat awkwardly turned in them to see Megan. The auburn haired girl released her and ran to stand as close as possible to look at the pictures. She turned around and ran back to a very lost looking Conner, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the paintings. She pointed each one out in delight while Conner nodded. He kissed her head then left her to go talk to Artemis and Zatanna.

"Superboy?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was either that or The Incredible Conner." Artemis replied with a smile. Conner returned it as Megan ran over. Megan came and gave some very excited compliments to Artemis as well.

The last to arrive were Dick and Wally. Dick held a tray of drinks that he probably snuck in, since food and drinks weren't allowed in the gallery. He handed a coffee to Artemis then he and Wally both went straight to the pictures. Dick openly laughed at his, but Artemis wasn't too sure why. Dick came and complimented Artemis on her paintings then he tried to ruffle her hair. She used to do that all the time to him when he was shorter than her, and now he took every chance he could to get revenge. Artemis ducked away from it and grinned.

"Close, but no cigar." She told him. Dick patted her cheek twice and Artemis slapped it away.

"So how did that hold up go today? The cops get him?" He asked. Artemis could tell he was fighting back a trollish grin. She didn't get why he was grinning, but she just chalked it up to one of the many things she would never understand about Dick Grayson.

"No, actually. Flash and Nightwing showed up."

Wally suddenly appeared beside her, "Oh really? What'd you think of them?"

"They were both weird. Smart, but annoying."

"You know I think they're pretty cool. I mean anyone with enough self confidence to wear a full spandex body suit is cool with me." Wally said.

"Yeah, I mean have you seen Nightwing swing from building to building? That can't be easy." Dick supplied.

"That's nothing compared to how fast Flash can run. He doesn't need toys to help him." Wally sent a mocking smile to Dick.

"Well, Nightwing doesn't need powers to help him." Dick shot back, wearing a challenging grin.

"Why do you care? To me, it sounds like you two might have crushes on them." That shut them up.

"How about those paintings, huh?" Dick blurted.

"Yeah. I mean, why don't you draw me like one of your French girls?" Wally said. Both Dick and Artemis froze to look at him.

"What?" She said.

"Titanic? Anyone? No? Really?" They both stared at him with blank expressions. "Forget it."

Megan and Conner must've moved on because Zatanna came to join them. Dick gave her a kiss on the side of her head and she smiled. He handed her a coffee which she gratefully accepted.

"Thank god. I haven't eaten since lunch and I'm _starving_."

"There's a little sandwich place across the street. You wanna go get something there?" Dick asked.

"Can you get me something too? I'm not allowed to leave my station." Artemis piped up.

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Just anything Italian will do. No olives."

"You want anything, Wally?"

"Sounds good. I'll have five of what Artemis is having." Wally answered. Dick nodded, apparently completely used to his eating habits.

"Five? Are you never full?" Artemis asked.

"I told you, fast-"

"Metabolism, yeah yeah." Artemis interrupted with a wave of her hand. Dick and Zatanna watched with amusement until Artemis turned attention back to them. "Weren't you two getting food?" The trollsome couple just grinned a little wider then left in the direction of the stairs. Artemis blew a stray hair out of her face.

"You okay?" Wally asked. He seemed a little concerned. Artemis wasn't sure why, she had just met the kid, but she felt really comfortable around him. It made her more than a little pissed off. (And if she was honest, it freaked her out a little.)

"Fine. I've just had a long day. Scratch that. Long past few days. And my head hurts." Artemis sighed as she sunk into her stool.

"From hitting the wall? Still?"

"The wall? But you weren't there when I hit it. How'd you know-"

"You told us," Wally supplied hastily. "Can I at least take a look?"

She didn't think she told him but didn't feel like arguing. "Fine." Artemis turned around and took out her ponytail so her hair tumbled around her shoulders. She felt Wally's hands carefully ghost over the bottom left of the crown of her head.

"There's a nasty bump but I don't think you have a concussion. No blood either. You just need to ice it and get some rest."

"Well I can't do either of those things right now. Do you have any Advil on you?" Artemis slid her fingers through her hair to retie it into its sleek ponytail.

"Artemis-"

"Wally, I have to stay here until closing. Or else they won't take me seriously."

"Okay, gorgeous. Just take it easy, yeah? And don't drive home. You got a ride?"

Artemis lifted an eyebrow, "Gorgeous? Yeah, I'll get Zee to give me a ride."

"Okay good." Wally said.

"Hey, kids." Artemis turned to see Dinah smiling at the two of them. Ollie on the other hand, was staring at Wally. He nodded stiffly at him.

"Wally."

"Sir." Wally said in a respectful tone, casting his eyes down.

Artemis rolled her eyes at them, turning to Dinah only to see her doing the same thing. "Dinah, do you have any Advil?"

"Sure," she began digging through her purse until she produced the little bottle. She opened it and handed one to Artemis, "Why do you need it?"

Artemis glanced at Wally, "Headache."

"I see." Dinah said as she put the small container into her purse. "So, Wally, right? Have you heard about this charity ball Ollie's having the day after tomorrow? Well, it's going to be a lot of fun. You should come, bring a date if you want." Oliver's eyes narrowed at his girlfriend.

"That sounds great, Miss Lance." Wally responded respectfully. "I'd love to." Artemis didn't notice his eyes flicker towards her.

Dick and Zatanna walked up, handing them their sandwiches. Artemis took hers gratefully and took a giant bite out of it. While she was eating faster than normal, Wally still had her beat by a landslide. By the time she was half way through hers, Wally was already on his second. She sat down to finish her sandwich while Dinah, Oliver, Zatanna, and Dick talked amongst themselves. Once she had finished, the Advil had already kicked in and the headache was gone – for which Artemis was grateful.

Somewhere between bites, Wally had wandered over to stand beside her. She eyed one of his sandwiches. "That's where I draw the line. No one takes my food. Sorry." Wally said.

"Really?"

"Yea-" Before he could finish, however, Artemis had snatched the one closest to her.

"You should watch your food more closely, West." She said as she took a bite out of it. Wally pouted.

They finished and everyone went to go walk around, at Artemis's insistence. No one was really approaching and talking to the artists, unless of course they knew them. They were mostly just walking up to the art, staring at it for a moment, and then walking away. So she pulled a book out of her purse and began to read.

A half hour and about ten pages later (she couldn't seem to get into it) Megan and Conner came up to her.

"We've got to head out. Can't leave Wolf along for too long, or he pees everywhere." Conner said.

Artemis stood up, "Thanks for coming." She smiled.

"Of course! We wouldn't miss it for anything!" Megan told her cheerily, giving her a tight hug. "I'll see you tomorrow then? Do you know who's driving?"

"Um, Zatanna knows but it's not us. It must be Rocket or Dinah." Both girls shared a look. "Here's to hoping it's not Rocket." The girls loved her, but really, she's the worst driver ever. She believes that stop signs are only required if there's someone there and speed limits are only a suggestion.

Megan nodded, "Agreed." They waved one more time and left. Artemis went back to her book. Dinah and Oliver came to say bye about forty five minutes later at 8:15. Artemis checked her watch and sighed. She knew this thing was going to be slow but she didn't know it was going to be _this _slow.

Fifteen minutes later Zatanna came back. "Are you going to chase me off again?"

Artemis shut her book and shook her head. "There's only another half hour."

Zatanna laughed, "I know what you mean. We wandered this whole place twice. Good news is your floor has the most people. Bad news is there's only like ten people up here." She wandered over to the paintings, examining hers. "I think I look really badass here. Dick thinks the whole leotard thing is hot, too." She thought for a minute. "When's his birthday again?"

Artemis groaned, "Zee! Ew! That kid's like my brother."

Zatanna laughed and rolled her eyes, "I'm just kidding. So I see you didn't make one of yourself. If you could be a hero what would you do?"

"Archery." She answered automatically.

"Oh, yeah. You still go to the range every week?"

"Not lately. But I'll get back there soon. As soon as I can drop one of these jobs I will. I'll have more time."

Zatanna crossed her arms and examined the blonde. "You're always making excuses for everything."

"Am not-"

"Like how you haven't been to the gym in forever or haven't gone to the archery range or you haven't borrowed some money from your uncle for school or aren't going on dates. You always claim you don't have the time and maybe you don't but you do have days off." She paused. "Artemis, I think you're scared to leave the little comfortable bubble you've made for yourself." She told her, giving her this challenging look.

Artemis glared and turned on her heel. She didn't need to put up with that. So she wouldn't. She stomped down the stairs and went to stand outside under the ledge of the building. She was _not _scared. There was no way _Artemis Crock_ was scared. Nope. Artemis looked to send another withering glare at the doors, as if Zatanna could see it. But she could because she was standing right there. She must've followed her down. Artemis's roommate stepped outside the door.

"Listen. I didn't mean to cross a line back there. I just meant that's what I think. I do think that you use time as an excuse though. I won't take back what I said. But, by all means, prove me wrong. Make me look like an ass. I dare you."

Her anger melted away and she realized she might've overreacted a little. Just a little. Artemis raised an eyebrow at her friend and felt the corner of her lips twitch, "You _dare_ me?"

"Yep. In fact, I d double doggy dare you." Zatanna gained a tiny smile.

"Well then, I can't just turn down a double doggy dare."

"**_D_** double doggy dare. And no, you can't."

Artemis full on smiled now and Zatanna returned it. She laced her arm through the blonde's. "C'mon. Let's go make sure no one is stealing your masterpieces."

They walked all the way back up the stairs and Artemis shoved what Zatanna had said to the back of her mind. She'd deal with it later. (And by later, she meant never.)

Even though it wasn't nine o'clock yet, other artists had already began to pack up their stuff. Artemis and Zatanna followed suit. They carefully placed each canvas in zipped plastic folders and stacked them up.

Artemis had thought Dick and Wally went home already but apparently not because they came to help carry the paintings out to Zatanna's car, a rusted old corolla. Artemis and Wally went up for the last two while Dick and Zatanna waited for them downstairs.

"Sad it's over?" Wally asked as he looked around at the other artist's getting their work off the walls.

"Are you kidding? I'm thankful. It was boring as hell."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Wally laughed. "Except, you know, your stuff. I mean, you said it was _okay_. I thought it was the best stuff there."

"Yeah, right."

"It was! Do you know how many paint splatters I saw that were supposed to interpret birth or something? It was horrible."

"Birth?" Artemis laughed.

"I kid you not. The guy with the beret that kept staring at Zatanna. One of his paint splatters was called Birth. The Wallman never lies. It's one of the many characteristics that makes me a babe magnet."

"Wallman? Really? That sounds just a bit pathetic." They stopped at Zatanna's car and placed the pictures in the back. Zatanna was already in the driver's seat. Dick drove past with a wave.

"So, Artemis, about that charity thing. I don't really know anyone here and-"

"What, no girlfriends for the infamous Wallman?" Artemis snickered. Wally smiled.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. You don't have a boyfriend either so I wouldn't talk. I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to gowithmeasfriends."

"Sorry, what was that?" She understood him just fine.

He took a deep breath, "Do you want to go with me? As friends, I mean."

Artemis studied him for a moment. "Sure. I mean, it could actually be fun without a million creeps asking for a dance." Wally's face broke out into a smile.

"Awesome! I mean, uh- cool. I have to go, but if I think of anything else can I call you?"

"Sure." Artemis pulled a pen out of her pocket and quickly scrawled her number across his hand. "There. See you around, then."

"Bye." Wally grinned and her and Artemis couldn't help but smile back. Wally began to walk backwards but ended up walking straight into the car behind him. He jumped and turned around then walked back into Zatanna's car. Artemis raised an amused eyebrow and watched and he turned on his heel, sent her one last smile, and speed walked off.

_Let this be our little secret_

_No one needs to know we're feelin'_

_Higher and higher and higher_

_Higher and higher and higher_

_But I feel alive and I feel it in me_

_Up and up I keep on climbing_

_Higher and higher and higher_

_Higher and higher and higher_


	3. Chapter 3

_Tonight_

_We are young_

_So let's set the world on fire_

_We can burn brighter_

_Than the sun_

Artemis and Zatanna had their feet propped up on the table, a bowl of chips between them and a crappy soap opera on the television. They were waiting to be picked up for their girl`s day and both had their fingers crossed Rocket wasn`t driving.

"Why is there never any quality television on during the day anymore?" Zatanna asked as she bit into a chip.

"When was there ever quality television on?"

"Fair point."

They were waiting for the others to show up in their unusually clean apartment. Apparently, Zatanna had promised they could all come over to watch bad romcoms and do generally girly things after they were done. Artemis thought it was all juvenile but it made her friends happy so she went along with it.

Zatanna's phone vibrated and she checked its screen. "They're here." The girls grabbed their purses and went outside. To their dismay, it wasn't Dinah sitting behind the wheel. Instead, Rocket sat behind the wheel of her faded yellow gremlin. She beeped the horn twice and began talking rapidly but the girls couldn't hear her on account of being outside the car. Dinah sat in the passenger seat, with both hands braced against the dash. She managed a weak smile at the girls. Megan opened the back door then slid to the other side, strapping in her seat belt tightly. Zatanna did the same, but Artemis didn't get the chance when she had barely stepped off the curb and Rocket shot off. Artemis braced her foot against the seat in front of her and leaned out to slam the door shut. She buckled her seatbelt on while Rocket talked as if she hadn't just almost thrown everyone out of the car.

"So I was thinkin' we could go dress shoppin' first then go fun shopping, like get our makeup and nail polish and all that." Then turned a corner and everyone hit the right side of the car, except of course Rocket, who was used to her driving habits.

"Oliver gave me his card. Told me to treat you guys. So everything is on him today." Dinah said. Rocket screeched to a halt.

"WHAT THE HELL YOU ASSHOLE YOU HAVE A RED LIGHT-"

"NO, YOU HAVE A RED LIGHT," Zatanna screamed at her. Rocket looked up and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, oops. My bad. Anyway, do you guys wanna hit the dress shop at the mall or the outlets first? The outlets are an hour away but if I gas it-"

"MALL." Everyone shouted.

"Okay, okay. Whatever you say. The way you guys are acting like- GET OUT OF MY WAY GRANDMA- I'm a bad driver or something." The girls in the back exchanged looks. Megan grabbed her seatbelt a little tighter.

By some miracle, they had reached the mall without crashing. They had all hustled out of the gremlin and straight to the dress store, led by Dinah. All the girls attacked the racks, except Artemis. She felt distinctly out of place in her jeans and t shirt as she explored the pristine store.

She found herself wandering round the racks, occasionally finding one or two she liked. She lugged them all off to the dressing room where Rocket and Zatanna already were trying on some dresses. Dinah and Megan were still browsing. Artemis locked herself in the changing room and began to change into all the dresses she picked out. She found she didn't like any of them and ended up leaving fifteen minutes after she walked in.

Megan joined them as Artemis walked out. They passed each other as they went through the change room doorway. Artemis lugged a few more dresses back and tried them on too, but they all just seemed too _something_. Too ruffle-y, or too revealing, or too juvenile, or too poufy.

Forty five minutes later, Artemis had pretty much given up. A pile of neglected dresses sat in the opposite corner of the fitting room as she sat on the little stool. Everyone else had already found dresses and was just waiting on her. She looked at herself in the full length mirror on the back of the door and could feel the insecurities creeping in. She saw every scar that littered her body, some were an angry red, others were faded white. But Artemis knew they would never fade on their own and that infuriated her. The worst was on the bottom of her rib cage, below her left breast. It was curved and bright, a harsh contrast against her skin. She remembers where each and every scar came from. Some she didn't mind as much as others; like this one she had on her knee from falling from a tree after trying to climb a tree on a dare from Dick. But others, like the curved one, were from her father. She hated how they looked and how they refused to fade. But Artemis also refused to try to use any of that scar cream crap. These scars were hard earned and while they made her ashamed and embarrassed, a tiny part of her was proud of them. They meant she survived, that she was a fighter. Besides, trying to get rid of them would be like admitting defeat to her father and she would never do that, even if he was dead. She shut her eyes tightly as the memories flooded back.

_She couldn't do it. She couldn't be the powerful person he wanted her to be. Not yet. He saw it and raised his hand, but Artemis refused to shy away and she fought back the tears gathering in her eyes. Even when she was a small child she was simply too proud and she refused to give him the satisfaction he wanted._

_He wanted her to be tougher. He wanted her to be stronger. But there is only so much strength that a little kid can have, a girl can only be so tough. _

Artemis was snapped out of her thoughts when someone knocked on her door. She opened it a crack to see Dinah. She held up a dress.

"Why don't you give this one a try?" She said with a gentle smile. Artemis nodded and took the dress from her.

She tried it on and examined herself in the mirror. It was the right colour, right style, and fit her perfectly. She smiled and walked out to show the girls. Megan clapped excitedly and Zatanna wolf whistled. It would do.

After the dress store they went to wander around the mall. They stopped at Bath & Body Works and loaded up on soaps and sprays, and then they hit the shoe store and got a new pair of heels each (or in Zatanna's case, three). The girls went to the makeup store, a few clothing stores, the book store, and another shoe store.

"Let's go here!" Zatanna said. The girls looked to where she pointed.

"Oh, no," Artemis said.

Megan giggled, "It could be fun, come on." The girls pulled Artemis into the Victoria's Secret.

The girls scattered among the racks, Megan dragging Artemis with her. Megan picked a few things off the rack, even tossing a few back at Artemis. The girls met back at the changing room where they all went to try some stuff on. All the girls emerged at once, all wearing corsets and garters. Rocket's were dark purple, Megan's were soft pink, Zatanna's were black, Dinah's were emerald, and Artemis's were dark red with little yellow accents.

"We have to buy all these." Rocket said. Zatanna nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Megan agreed. Apparently, she had no problem with lingerie unless boys other than her boyfriend were around.

"These _are_ Ollie's favourite colour," Dinah agreed.

"Speaking of colour, love the red and yellow Artemis. Pick it out with someone in mind?" Zatanna piped up.

"Ha ha. Very funny," Artemis said sarcastically as she retreated into the change room. Judging by the sound of doors closing, the other women had done the same. "Megan picked it out, actually."

"Nice job, Megs!" Rocket said. Artemis rolled her eyes. Everyone met outside the rooms, all holding their chosen articles of clothing. Artemis eyed hers.

"I don't think I'll buy this. I have no use for it."

"Yet." Zatanna said.

"I don't either. Doesn't stop me." Rocket said. "Come on, Artemis. I dare you." The women all went to the register and paid for their purchases, courtesy of Ollie.

At about seven, they all went for dinner at a restaurant inside the mall. The mall was huge and had several different 'streets' that were modelled after actual famous streets around the world. For example, Sunset Boulevard was the place to go for designer shopping and the Strip has brightly flashing signs and lights. They stopped at Bourbon Street, the restaurant district, and chose a casual dining restaurant called Roxie's. They ordered their food and talked while they waited. Their conversation topics drifted from food to the charity gala when it finally landed on men.

"Kaldur and I are going as friends. Neither of us really wanted to go alone so we just decided to go together." Rocket said as she picked at their shared appetizer – bruschetta and bread cubes.

"Artemis is going with Wally. He called her earlier to see if she needed a ride." Zatanna said as she popped a cube in her mouth. All the girls sat up and began talking at once.

"Really?" Megan said excitedly.

"Knew it."Rocket leaned back in the black booth and smirked.

"Who's Wally?" Dinah asked with a sly grin. A knowing look sparked in her eyes.

"We're going as friends," Artemis objected but everyone just pretended they didn't hear her.

"He's this hot red head." Rocket supplied.

"Good friend of Dick's." Zatanna said.

"He's a scientist." Megan added.

"A _hot _scientist." Zatanna said.

"He's really sweet." Megan said.

"Eats a lot though." Rocket said.

"Yeah, I don't know where he puts its all." Zatanna said.

"There isn't an ounce of fat on that boy." Rocket agreed.

"Oh, _really_?" Dinah said.

"Friends. We're going as friends. He asked me after the gallery and I said yes. As friends." Artemis told them sternly.

"Whatever you say," Megan giggled.

"Yeah you're _going _as friends. No one said anything about _leaving _as friends." Zatanna cackled. Artemis chuckled a bread cube at her.

"Well what about Flash? _He _certainly seems to have taken a liking to you." Rocket said as their waiter took away the empty appetizer plate.

"Flash too? Wow, Artemis. I'm proud." Dinah smiled like it was all some big inside joke. Artemis caught it and raised an eyebrow at her. Dinah just shook her head lightly, as if to never mind it. Instead, Artemis filed it away to consider later.

"He's Flash. He's supposed to be flirtatious." The waiter set down their plates in front of them then left. Artemis glared at her friends, as if daring them to say anything else. They didn't.

When they were done there, Dinah volunteered to drive back to Zatanna and Artemis's place. Everyone agreed simultaneously, except Rocket. She actually looked a bit offended.

They drove back to the apartment, where Zatanna popped in one of her favourite romcoms and the girls all changed into their pyjamas. Megan was the last to change and came out of the bathroom. She stopped when she saw everyone looking at her.

"What?"

"Megan, you're green!" Rocket stated. Megan hit herself in the head.

"Hello, Megan. Yeah, I forgot I was. It's this cucumber scrub I have." She held up the bowl she was holding, "I have enough for everyone!"

"Megs, I don't think you're supposed to put it on your arms and neck too." Rocket told her. Megan looked with dismay at her arms while everyone else laughed.

Twenty minutes later, everyone looked like little green Martians as they sat in front of each other to work on their nails. They had bought nail polish that matched their dresses so they could paint their nails themselves. The girls shaped their nails then painted them and finished them off with a clear coat.

Afterwards they all sat and blew on their nails as they watched the TV. Artemis and Rocket mimed gagging at the sappy parts in the film. Dinah sat between Zatanna and Megan. Both girls leaned on her and Dinah rested her head on Megan's.

When that movie ended they washed the cracking mask off then started another, equally cheesy romcom. Megan and Dinah were the first to fall asleep, then Rocket and Zatanna. Artemis put blankets on her dozing friends then curled up on the easy chair with a blanket of her own and turned off the movie.

By the time Artemis woke up everyone had left except for Zatanna. She was picking up the bags of chips and dumping out half finished pops in the kitchen sink, cleaning up the causalities of the girl's sleepover.

"Morning." Zatanna said with a smile. Artemis groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. She heard her roommate chuckle. She poked her head back out.

"What time is it?"

"One thirty."

"One thirty? Why didn't you wake me?"

"You don't have work today, do you?"

"No..."

"Why would you need to be up then? I thought it'd be nice for you to sleep in. Besides, you just looked so darned cute."

Artemis glared. Zatanna laughed. "Now that you're up, you can help me clean. We have to be at Oliver's house in two hours to get ready with the girls."

"Doesn't it start at seven? Why would we need four hours to get ready?"

"Hun, have you seen how much hair you have? We'll probably spend an hour on that alone."

Artemis folded the blanket she had recently cocooned herself in. "Fair point."

Zatanna went for a shower while Artemis finished dishes and vacuuming. Artemis found a little fluff ball with floppy ears in the kitchen sink while she was cleaning. She picked up Tibbar and returned him to his cage, but not before giving him a quick scratch behind the ears.

Zatanna left the shower and Artemis went in the bathroom after her. She pulled her hair out of the tangled ponytail and scrubbed off any remains of the cucumber face mask then hopped into the shower. She took her sweet time in the shower, which was something she didn't usually do. She shaved her legs and made sure not to miss any spots. She washed her hair twice so that it'd be extra silky and manageable, and then she blow dried it. She applied the usual eyeliner and mascara then threw on a tank top and basketball shorts.

Zatanna had gone on a quick grocery run and she still had forty five minutes to kill so she picked up their laundry basket and headed downstairs. She threw everything in the wash and picked up the only book she could find, one of Zatanna's many trashy romance novels, and sat on the washer.

At about 2:45 Artemis loaded everything back in the basket and walked back up the stairs. She dumped Zatanna's half on her bed and the other half on her own. She slipped the novel under her pillow.

The roommates loaded all the makeup, shoes, jewellery, and dresses they needed into Zatanna's car then drove off to Oliver's house. Artemis pulled up to the gate and punched the key code in. It opened and she drove up the winding driveway and parked the car in the main garage.

They got out of the car and bounded up the steps to the door. Artemis unlocked it with her key and they walked into the main foyer. It had spotless white tile that seemed to go on forever. The foyer was so big that it would later double as the ballroom. Artemis could see hired hands cleaning and setting up tables and lying down the dance floor. The grand staircase dominated the middle of the room. Artemis and Zatanna dodged all the people fussing around and took the steps two at a time. Dinah had told them they would get ready in Artemis's old room because it had a bathroom large enough to hold everyone at once.

They walked into the room and found they were the last to arrive. The women had already spread out their clothes on the pine canopy bed and covered the matching dresser and desk with jewellery and other accessories.

"Hey. We were just showing Megan our game plan. Come look." Dinah told them from the small table they were crowded around.

"Game plan?" Zatanna asked.

Rocket shrugged, "I got here early." Zatanna and Artemis joined them. On the table in front of them was an over complicated looking diagram on a huge piece of paper. If you tilted your head to the left, it looked a little like a fish.

"So first we're going to do touch ups of nails and everyone's makeup. Then everyone's hair. Artemis, you last. You have the most and we can all work on it at once. Then we'll choose accessories and such then we'll all change into our dresses. By that time it should be about seven."

The girls started to get ready then. Artemis hadn't realized how long it took to do hair and makeup and it was hours before they finished completely. The girls very carefully changed into their dresses and shoes and jewellery, zipping up dresses and clipping on necklaces. They finally finished at about quarter after seven. Megan wore a pale yellow dress with a sweetheart neckline; Rocket wore a black dress with sheer sleeves. Dinah wore a sequin covered midnight blue dress and Zatanna had a dress that started white but changed to black as it moved to the floor. Artemis's dress was emerald green with a keyhole neckline that flowed to the floor with soft chiffon. All the girls had opted for updo's, besides Zatanna and Artemis who had both chose to curl their hair loosely into soft waves.

The girls left the room after final glances in the mirror. They walked down the hall together, occasionally pointing out paintings and vases that littered the hall.

"Before Ollie and I started dating I told him as a joke that I was into artists. You know, throw him off the scent." All the girls laughed. Dinah continued, "Well as soon as he got his fortune back he bought every single thing he thought looked _artistic_."

"I remember that. When I first moved in, he kept asking my opinion on everything he bought. When he heard about my painting he went nuts." Artemis added, laughing

Dinah laughed, "_Men_." The girls reached the staircase and started down it. The place was already packed full of finely dressed people. "I'm going to go find Ollie. Have fun!" Dinah said. Artemis saw Dinah head confidently towards where Oliver stood talking to Bruce Wayne and a woman with jet black hair with creamy skin. Artemis lifted her chin and followed after her friends.

They found the boys lurking in one of the far corners of the room. They all wore black suits and long ties. Dick and Wally had tamed their hair somewhat and Conner and Kaldur were wearing thin ties.

Kaldur smiled, "You all look stunning."

Rocket elbowed him lightly, "You clean up pretty good too. Wanna dance, roomy?"

"It'd be an honor." He offered his hand and they walked off to the dance floor. Conner offered his hand to Megan and they walked off as well. Dick looked at Zatanna and bowed exaggeratedly. Zatanna curtsied and they left. Artemis rolled her eyes at the couple and turned back to Wally.

"Hey."

"Hey, Artemis. You look uh- really uh-"

"Yes?" She couldn't help but give a small smile.

"Beautiful," he blurted. "Uh, wanna dance?"

"Sure." They walked onto the dance floor. Wally put his hand between her shoulder blades and his other on her shoulder.

"No, like this-" Artemis took his hand and guided it down to her waist. She placed her hand on his shoulder and took his other hand in her own. "I'll lead."

"That's okay, babe, I know what I'm doing."

"Really, because I don't think you do. And don't call me babe."

"Do so!"

"Who taught you? Frankenstein?"

"My Uncle Barry, actually. He's not half bad either."

"Poor guy, must've been like conquering Everest trying to teach you."

"Ha ha, you're hilarious."

"I think I am too, thanks for noticing." She paused. "You look good too, by the way."

Wally smiled, "Thanks." A new song started. "So what happens here, anyway?"

Artemis answered as they spun around to the faster song, "Snooty rich people, occasionally sprinkled with genuinely nice people such as my uncle, gather together and gossip or look for potential relationships for themselves, their children, and their grandparents but give money to charity so they can call it a charity event. Usually, it's dry and boring and a million creepers hit on me but maybe it'll be better now that I have a date. That's a friend. A friend that's my date. And friend. Yeah." She mentally told herself to shut up.

Wally didn't seem to notice, however. "You grew up here?"

Artemis nodded, "Yeah. Since I was eight. My family – they, they died in a car crash. My dad had been a drunk and he forced my mom and sister along. My sister hid me in a closet when he went nuts. She saved my life." Her tone had grown soft at the end and she casted her eyes down.

"I'm sorry." Wally's tone was soft as well.

"It was a long time ago. I've moved on." Artemis paused. "What about you? You grew up in Central City, right?"

"Yeah, with my parents. You know, white picket fence and all that. I'm really close with my Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris too, though. My Uncle is actually the one who got me into science."

Artemis was about to ask more about his work when someone tapped Artemis on the shoulder. She turned around to see Dick and Zatanna. Dick smiled, "Mind if we cut in?" Artemis smiled lightly at Wally then moved to dance with Dick. He placed his hand on her waist and took her hand. She put her hand on his shoulder and they stepped off as Zatanna and Wally did.

"Having a good time with your date?" Dick asked with a grin.

"Yes, actually. Especially because we're here just as friends and there's no awkwardness." Artemis said pointedly.

"Whatever you say." He paused as they turned. "You look lovely, by the way. Green's a good colour on you."

"Thanks; black's a good colour on you." They turned again, and passed Zatanna and Wally who seemed to be talking about one thing or another. "Zee looks beautiful, doesn't she?"

Dick looked over at her and got this soft smile on his face, "Yeah, she does."

"Is she staying over at your place tonight?"

"No, I have to work early tomorrow. Besides, who would give you a ride home?"

"I'm very capable of finding someone to drive me home. Like Wally, for example."

"Drive you home and actually go home after dropping you off, I mean." Artemis simply smacked her friend on the back of his head. He laughed.

"You're a douche, you know that right?"

Dick shrugged, "It's fun." The song ended and Dick kissed her hand and bowed pompously to her then moved back to dance with his girlfriend. Wally appeared and took her back in his arms.

"How'd you meet Dick anyways?" Artemis asked.

"Uh- well. We've been internet friends for a really long time. Since I was about fifteen, I think. We worked together a lot."

"On what?"

"You know, virtual stuff. That's virtual. So how'd you meet Dick?"

"When I was taken in by Uncle Ollie he used to go to do a lot of business at Wayne Manor. Once I tagged along and I met Dick there. I kicked his ass in Mario Kart. I think that's when he truly accepted me." Artemis said as Wally laughed.

"Let's go get something to drink." He said. Artemis nodded and followed him off the dance floor. Wally swiped two flutes of champagne off a waiter's tray and handed one to Artemis. They wandered around the crowd of people until they found Megan and Conner sitting at a table with Rocket and Kaldur.

"Hey guys." Artemis said as she sat down. Wally dragged a chair over and sat between her and Rocket. The group greeted them and went back to their conversation. The topic drifted from troublesome pets such as Wolf, who was currently at Megan's Uncle John's house because he would cause too much trouble alone for so long, and Tibbar, who had recently been found in Rocket's bed with no explanation, to some new movies coming out.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom," Artemis said.

"I'll come." Rocket said.

"Me too. We'll be back in a minute," Megan told the boys. The girls shuffled off to the large bathrooms that held multiple stalls and sinks. The girls crowded around the mirrors. Artemis found her face was flushed to a pleasant pink and her hair had been ruffled a bit. She touched up her makeup with some makeup from Megan's little purse.

"This is actually a lot more fun then I thought it would be." Artemis remarked.

"I know! Usually these are so boring." Megan agreed. The girls left and went back to the tables; where the boys escorted the girls immediately back to the dance floor.

But before Artemis and Wally started, someone tapped Artemis on the shoulder. She turned to see her uncle smiling at her, Dinah by his side.

"Mind if I steal my niece for a dance?" Wally shook his head and Dinah walked over to him. Oliver took his niece and spun her around as she laughed.

"You look gorgeous, Shortbow."

"Thanks. You look pretty good too. Dinah can't keep her eyes off you."

"Oh, I know." Oliver said with a wink.

Artemis laughed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. They danced in comfortable silence for the rest of the song. Wally appeared with Dinah and they switched partners. Artemis leaned her head on Wally's shoulder as they danced to the slower song. At first he stiffened, but he relaxed almost immediately.

"Tired?" He sounded like he was smiling.

This nervous fluttering sensation settled in Artemis's stomach. She tried to ignore it. Whatever_ it_ was. "You bet."

"You wanna go soon? I could give you a ride home." She opened her mouth to agree but she didn't get to say it because a loud bang rang throughout the room. Growing up in Gotham, Artemis knew exactly what that sound was. Gun fire. The crowd around them began to scramble, and it wasn't long before Artemis lost Wally in the chaos. A circle began to clear in the middle, holding none other than Stone Eyes. Thugs rallied around him and poked and jabbed at people with their guns.

"Hello, wealthy Gothamites." His voice was high pitched and cold, "Hand over any and all items of value to me and no one will get hurt. Put it in the sacks my men are carrying around. Fail to cooperate and well-" He shot off his gun again. The bullet hit one of the chandeliers and some sparks fell. Many people gasped and took a step back. A woman not too far from Artemis fainted. Artemis found Megan and Conner standing in the crowd opposite her, closest to Stone. Conner was inching his way in front of Megan. His girlfriend met Artemis's eye over her shoulder with a mix of slight annoyance and fear.

A henchman stopped at Megan. She began to take of her earrings and bracelets then dropping them into the sack he held out, but she hesitated when it came to giving up the necklace. It was the one Conner had given her for her birthday. The guard barked something at her and Conner stepped up and said something back. Megan tried to pull his arm but the guard simply held up his hand gun and hit Conner across the head with it, faster than he would've been after to block the fell into the circle, unconscious, with Megan dropping to his side. She lifted her head into his lap.

"Well, well, well look at what we have here. It looks like we have a hero. Poor, pretty girl, looks like her hero's been _indisposed_." Stone laughed. "Fucking idiot, he is. You too girly. Oh look – she's _crying." _A few tears had escaped Megan's glaring eyes and Artemis felt white hot fury burn through her. He just made one of closest her friends cry. And one of his henchmen had just pistol whipped one of her other friends. And he had crashed her uncle's party, after all of Dinah's patient planning. And to be frank, this guy was starting to piss her off. She stepped forward, away from the crowd.

"Hey, asshole. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Her voice rang out confidently throughout the room. Everyone turned to look at her, including Stone. He smiled, revealing black and yellow teeth. Artemis crossed her arms.

Stone looked her up and down slowly and Artemis had to resist the urge to cover the keyhole on her dress. "Aren't you a gorgeous young thing? And what might you're name be?" He began to walk towards her.

"Crock. And I'm not a thing." He reached her and began to circle her, as if she were his prey.

He laughed, cold and loud. "You got a first name, Ms. Crock?"

"It takes a special kind of douche to rob banks and steal from innocent people. Even if they are wealthy. And do you really have to come in here shooting your mouth off like some hot shot? Seriously, who pissed in your cheerios?"

"Aw, babe. I don't like to think of it like that. And let's be real here, who's actually innocent? No one, not really. Innocence, my dear dove, is a myth. Oh, and I can shoot my motherfucking mouth off to anyone I fucking want to." He laughed again. "Girl, I like you. You got spunk, quick with the tongue. Not too bad on the eyes, either."

"Why don't you just gather your cute little friends and leave?" Artemis could see Kaldur and Rocket pushing to the front of the crowd. She knew her friends would know to take her distraction. She had taken the thugs and Stone's attention and they came to take the window she had made in doing so. Rocket helped Megan up and put an arm around her then melted back into the crowd with Kaldur dragging an unconscious Conner quietly away, an arm slung around his shoulders.

"Oh, darling, I think I might. And bring you with me."

"That's funny." She spat out sarcastically. Was this guy being real?

"Who's gonna stop me?"

"I am." Her skirt ripped as she swung her leg around and hit him in the face. She swung a fist at him, which he dodged, then she slammed the heel of her stiletto into his toes. She dug it in before jumping back. He shrieked and grabbed her arm. She lifted her knee into his stomach and he let go. He doubled over and Artemis raised her fists to get ready for the guards coming her way. Suddenly, the chandelier in the center of the circle broke and almost fell right on them, a green arrow stuck on the chain. Artemis only just dived out of the way. Unfortunately, Stone wasn't standing in the crash zone. Even more unfortunately, Artemis landed right next to his feet. At least everyone was distracted for the moment at the most recent arrivals.

Everyone looked to the staircase to see Green Arrow, Black Canary, and The Dark Knight walking down it. More thugs ran at them and they got straight to work. Nightwing jumped down from god knows where and began to fight off thugs in the now scattering circle. Flash fought alongside him, using his speed to his advantage. Meanwhile, Stone had recovered. He tried to stomp on her, but she rolled out of the way just in time. She leapt up and threw another punch at him. He caught it and twisted her wrist behind her back. She refused to cry out and slammed her head back into his face. He let go and she spun around.

Green Arrow's voice rang out above the yelling, the twang of his bow, and Black Canary's boots hitting the ground, "Flash, get Artemis to safety."

"Yes sir!" Flash zoomed away from the thug he was beating and picked Artemis up bridal style. He zipped up the stairs and dropped her onto the bed in her old bedroom.

"Sorry, beautiful. You gotta stay here."

"Flash!"

"Sorry, Arrow's orders." He looked her up and down slowly, "You look sexy as hell, by the way." He reached over and ran a few fingers through her hair, "You should wear your hair down more often."

"Flash, I swear to god, if you do what I think you're going to do-" She said as she sat up. She was about to stand when he zipped to the door. He cut her off.

"Sorry, babe. Gotta go do the hero thing. I'll tell someone where to find you!" He slammed the door and Artemis heard the lock click. She raced to the door but found it just as she had thought. Locked. She pounded her fist against the door and let out a frustrated yell. No one would hear her up here and she knew it. It was just nice to get that out. She went to the window but found the proper security measures still there that Oliver had installed when she hit her rebellious teenaged years. Of course, she found a way around it. Using her art studio's giant full glass wall. But she didn't exactly have access to that at the moment. She did the only thing she could do. She flung herself onto the bed face first and groaned loudly.

After that embarrassing, temporary acceptance of failure, she got an umbrella from her closet and tried to pry the door open, but she had no such luck. Next she tried to pick the lock with a hanger and some tweezers but couldn't. She had long since ditched her shoes and even tried to pry open the door with that. That worked just as well as she thought it would.

A few long minutes later, Artemis could hear the excitement dying down. The heroes would be gone by now. She just hoped Flash kept his word; otherwise, she'd be stuck here a long, long time. From her window, she could see a lot of people were leaving and a lot of police were arriving. She was about to resort to banging on the door and screaming with all her might when the door opened. Kaldur stood there with a worried look on his face.

"Artemis, are you well? Flash told me he locked you in here before he ran off."

"I'm fine, but next time I see the Flash I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." She marched out of her room with Kaldur next to her. Kaldur winced. He knew how that would go. "How's Conner?"

"Fine. He's awake; luckily he is without a concussion. The paramedics just told him he'd have a rather large headache and bump, but otherwise he was fine. Would you like to see him? He's in the study." Artemis nodded and let him lead the way. "That was very heroic what you did. I am glad you are unhurt."

Artemis shrugged, "He made Megan cry. Good job on taking my distraction too."

"I am just glad everyone is alright." The duo walked into the study where Conner was resting on a large couch. Megan was on her knees beside him holding his hand. When she saw the blonde she stood up and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you so much, Artemis."

Artemis gently released herself from Megan's grasp. She held her at arm's length. "He made you cry. He had it coming." She sent her auburn haired friend a smile then walked to Conner. "How're you?"

"Pissed off I didn't get a swing at the bastard."

"Don't worry, I got plenty." Artemis smirked. Conner returned it.

Megan came to meet them, "I'll drive us home. Kal, can I have some help getting him home?"

"Of course. Rocket and I will follow you and I can help you up to your apartment. Are you sure you do not wish to accompany us to our apartment?"

Megan nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. Thank you. Artemis, Zatanna is waiting in the car for you."

"Thanks, Megs. You sure you guys are okay?"

Megan embraced the blonde again, "Yeah, I'm sure. He didn't even get my necklace. Go home and sleep. And ice those knuckles of yours." Artemis looked down to keep them bruised and split in several places. Oops.

"Will do. Good night. Bye, guys. Conner, feel better." Artemis started to the door after receiving good byes from her friends but she turned around when she remembered something. "You guys want me to get Wolf sometime? I can take Zee's car."

Megan shook her head, "Uncle John is dropping him off tomorrow. Thank you though." Artemis nodded and left. She went out to the garage to find Zatanna in the car as promised. She sat in the passenger seat and they drove away from the mansion.

"Hey, what happened to Dick and Wally?" She asked.

"Dick texted me. He went to the police station to give witness accounts with Wally. Oliver, Bruce, and Dinah did too. Wally said to say he was sorry for leaving without saying bye." She answered as they drove home. "Oh, and Anti Damsel? Waita live up to the name." Zatanna looked at her and winked. Artemis allowed herself a proud smile.

They got to the apartment and trudged up the stairs. Zatanna went straight to bed while Artemis decided to listen to Megan. She changed into a tank top and spandex shorts and tied her hair up in a ponytail. She propped her feet on the table in the living room and opened a beer. She iced her knuckles as she watched the evening news, not surprised to see there was already a story about Stone Eye's latest attack. Suddenly, a knock rang out at the door. Artemis was immediately on alert. She grabbed the baseball bat from the closet and raised it a little. She opened the door.

She lowered the bat as soon as she saw who it was. "Flash?"

He didn't look so good. What part of his face she could see was paler than usual and he was clutching his left arm. He still managed a smile. "Hey beautiful."

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if you were alright. I kinda had to drop you and go back there." He took a step forward, "Can I come in?"

Artemis opened the door and gestured for him to come in wordlessly. She led him to the kitchen where she grabbed her beer and took a sip. She caught him watching and held up the bottle, "You want one?"

That was a mistake. He saw her battered knuckles. His hand dropped from his arm and he pointed. "What happened?"

Artemis looked at them dismissively. "That's what happens when you punch someone. It's just a bruise. It'll heal in a few days." Artemis pointed at his arm. "What the hell, Flash? You're bleeding!"

He looked down at it. "Just a scratch."

Artemis moved forward and grabbed the offending arm without touching the injury. It was roughly two inches wide and was bleeding. In the middle of it all was a large piece of stone. Of course. Artemis pointed to the counter. "Sit. Don't argue."

To her surprise he listened. He was still there even after she emerged from the bathroom with a first aid kit in hand. She pulled on some blue rubber gloves and handed him a towel.

"What's this for?"

"I'm pulling that rock out your arm, then I'm stitching it up. We both know you can't exactly waltz into a hospital like that without questions. And before you ask, yes I do have first aid training. Bite the towel so you don't wake my roommate."

"I don't need the towel." He said stubbornly.

"Fine, but no complaining." She ripped some of the fabric around the wound so she could access it better.

"You know babe, if you wanted me out of this uniform all you have to do was ask." Artemis took a disinfecting wipe and cleaned the cut mercilessly. Flash jumped.

"A warning would be nice."

"Fine. Flashy, I'm going to clean your arm. Oh wait too late." Artemis said as she picked tweezers out of her kit. She gripped the stone. "On three. One," and she ripped it out. To his credit, Flash let out nothing but a sharp intake of breath.

"What happened to two and three?"

"You would've flinched." She threaded the needle. "Now I patch you back up. Stay still." He did stay still and soon she was done. He pried his fingers from the counter edge and examined the now sealed cut then watched Artemis was she wandered around the kitchen, cleaning up the counter and the tools from her kit. When she was done she turned back to look at him.

"Thanks." He said nodding towards his arm. Artemis nodded mutely. "Sorry about locking you in that room. Arrow's orders."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She crossed her arms. "There _is _something I would like to know, however."

"Anything, gorgeous."

"How'd Green Arrow know my name?"

Flash leapt up. "Look at the time. I really should be going." He was walking out of the room but stopped suddenly and turned back.

"Gonna answer my question?" Artemis asked.

"No. I just forgot something."

"What-" But she was cut off when Flash leaned forward and pecked her quickly on the corner of her lips.

"Souvenir." He smirked before racing out of the apartment. Artemis ran after him, but it was pointless. He was gone. Artemis bolted and chained the door then touched her plump lips lightly. She shook her head and cursed him quietly under her breath. She turned off the lights then retired to her bedroom.

_I think that possibly, maybe I've fallen for you_

_Yes, there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you_


	4. Chapter 4

_Run for your life, my love_

_Run and you don't give up_

_It's all that you are_

_All that you want_

_I will be close behind_

_Run for your life_

Artemis gathered her paints and put them in her backpack. Artemis had the apartment to herself because Zatanna had gone on a date with Dick then they were going to go check on Conner. Artemis had felt particularly restless, especially after what happened at the ball the night before, so as soon as she got off working the afternoon shift at the club she had decided to climb up to the roof where she could paint without any interruptions. She had finished and sat to watch Gotham's skyline for a while so her painting could dry. After about half an hour she put it in one of her plastic sleeves and used a key to open the roof door she had borrowed from the super.

She descended the stairs and got to her apartment door. She unlocked it and walked it, dropping her keys in her bag. Artemis could hear the TV, which was strange because she pretty sure she hadn't left it on. She set her stuff down carefully then walked down the entrance hallway.

"Zee? You home?" She called out cautiously.

"Guess who?" Artemis suppressed a shiver at the voice. Stone. She stopped next to the kitchen and looked into the living room. It seemed he had made himself at home. A bottle of scotch, _her _scotch, sat in front of him on the table. He was seated on the couch but turned so he could look at her. His glasses were on the table, as was his fedora. He was smiling. Three of his thugs stood in the living room, all staring at her.

"How'd you find me?"

"I told you I'd bring you with me. Unfortunately, my plans were a bit...postponed. See if that nuisance Flash and his little friends hadn't shown up, I would've had you by now."

"I thought I was doing rather well by myself." Artemis snapped.

"Quite the Anti Damsel actually." She was about to argue but he cut her off. "I know about Flash's cute little crush. That's alright. I've got you now." He laughed, "Where's your hero?" He made a big show of looking around the room. "Nowhere to be found!" Another barked laugh. "Don't worry. We'll have him gone very soon then I can have you all to myself."

Artemis narrowed her eyes. "If you've got me then why are you standing on the other side of the apartment? Come and get me."

Stone smirked and motioned for his guards to attack. She waited for one of them to get within a few feet before she dived into the kitchen. She catapulted over the counter and into the living room then bolted past the other two thugs and down the hall. She was heading for her room but suddenly another goon charged out of it, straight at her. She grabbed the door to the bathroom and flung it open so it smacked him in the face before she slammed it shut after her. Artemis pressed in the doorknob lock then spun around. She searched around for anything she could use as a weapon. She came up with nothing and looked around the room desperately. Pounding on the door started. Artemis yanked the shower rod down and shoved it through the window without hesitation. She knocked out the glass and took the towel from the rack then laid it across the sill. She squeezed out the narrow window and sat on the edge for the moment, pausing for just a moment to plan her escape route. She swung herself to the fire escape. She was about to run down the stairs but found her way blocked by several more thugs. First her bedroom and now the fire escape. So she was predictable? She'd have to fix that. Artemis bolted up the stairs two at a time and made it to the top floor just as the thugs burst into the bathroom. She heard their frustrated yells and looked down to see one of the thugs sticking what parts of his upper body that would fit outside it. Artemis didn't wait around to see what happened next and took the last steps up to the roof. She went straight for the door that would lead down but found it locked. She turned out her pockets but couldn't find the keys anywhere. They must be in her bag.

Artemis saw her last chance. She knew she had no chance to hesitate, no time. She backed up and took a deep breath then bolted. She leapt with all her might and landed on one knee on the next roof, her hands braced on the ground. She stood up and looked over her shoulder to see the thugs scrambling up the building. She took another running start at the next building and hit it running. She didn't stop until she was six buildings away, the thugs still close on her heels. She could hear them shouting but what they were saying didn't register. She was just too determined to get away.

Artemis bolted down the fire escape then ran down an alley. She tripped and skid on her knees, ripping her jeans and scraping her hands. She stood without delay and bounded down the alley. The thugs were still close behind but Artemis was a lot calmer now. She grew up in these streets, running and hiding and exploring with her friends. She knew this place better than the back of her hand.

Artemis wound through the streets with ease, only paying enough attention to know which alleys would lead her to dead ends and which would continue on. She lost the thugs five minutes after she reached the ground. The entire chase couldn't have lasted more than fifteen minutes. It was the longest fifteen minutes of her life.

Still, she ran in circles to be sure. She wasn't taking any chances. When she was absolutely positive that she lost them, she slowed to a fast walk. She was clad in only t shirt with a sports bra and ripped jeans. She was lucky she had worn sneakers to the roof and had them on when she escaped.

Her feet worked on autopilot as she thought. She'd have to call Zatanna and warn her. She could stay at Dick's for the night. She'd warn all her friends, actually. If Stone found her he could find them just as fast. Her uncle too. He already knew where Oliver lived but his house was built like a small fortress so she wasn't as worried. Zatanna had taken Tibbar to the shop today and he was still there – another small stroke of luck. Artemis wouldn't have to worry about that damn rabbit.

Artemis felt herself stop in front of a huge building. She looked up the skyscraper, only just able to see the giant W on top for Wayne Labs. She knew Dick wouldn't be here because he was with Zatanna and Bruce's main offices were on a separate location. But she wasn't there for either of them.

Artemis marched right up to the secretary at the tall front desk. She was a pretty brunette with rather larger breasts and even larger fake nails. She looked Artemis up and down. "May I help ya?"

"Wally West. I'm here to see him."

The secretary's eyes narrowed. "Mr. West has no appointments today."

"Tell him it's Artemis."

"But-"

"Just do it." Artemis snapped. She had just been chased from her home by a homicidal maniac. She was _not _in the mood. The lady rolled her eyes and went to place the call. Artemis wandered over to the windows to check again she wasn't followed. She was still there when the secretary called her over again.

"He says come up. Here's a guest card. Level twenty six." Artemis nodded her thanks and took the card. She shot to the elevators and swiped the card. The elevator dinged and she went in, pressing floor twenty six and standing in the back as the doors closed. Bad elevator music invaded Artemis's ears as she went up, up, up. Finally the doors slid open to reveal a huge lab filled with buzzing people. A small mousy man approached her.

"Ms. Crock?" Artemis nodded. "Mr. West's office is this way." He led her through the lab until he reached a large frosted glass door. He knocked twice, nodded at Artemis, and then sped off to get back to work. Artemis was watching him leave when the door opened.

"Hey, babe. To what-" Artemis had looked at him, cutting him off with her expression. She bit her lip and picked at her nails. "Artemis, what's wrong? Come in." He let her into his spacious office. One whole wall was a huge window and full black shelves lined the wall behind his cluttered white desk. A cream couch and easy chair sat with a coffee table on the other side of the room.

Wally sat them down on the couch. "Artemis, what happened? Are you okay? What happened to your knees?"

Artemis hugged herself. "Stone. Apartment. Ran. Roof. Alley. Fall. Knees. Circles. Here. You." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Wally put his hand on the side of her face. He dragged his thumb across her cheek.

"Hey, hey. Slow down. I'm right here. You're fine. Tell me what happened." So she did. She told him as vividly as it had happened and when she was done she leaned back on the couch and sighed heavily.

"Are you okay?"

Artemis nodded, "Yeah, I think so." Wally took her hand when she got to the part about jumping rooftops and hadn't let go yet. Artemis gently pulled it out of his grip. He stood up and for one scary moment she thought he was going to leave but instead he went to the desk.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling Dick. You aren't going home tonight, not on my watch. You can stay with me." He dialed and held the phone to his ear before she could argue.

She waited while he talked, not really paying attention. She watched her still bleeding knees as she realized how weak she must look. A villain shows up in her apartment and she runs straight to Wally. Part her, the logical part, argued what the hell she would've done? Not like she could go back there. But she squashed that down and let herself be mad.

"Artemis?" His hand had found her shoulder. Artemis looked up at him. He had ditched the lab coat and was now wearing a jacket. He offered her a dark red sweater. "I just got permission from my boss. He said I can leave early. Come on let's go get you cleaned up. And take this sweater. Stone might've sent scouts out looking for you. They'd have your description." She stood up from the couch and took the sweater somewhat reluctantly. She shrugged on the soft fabric and tucked her hair into the hood. She followed him out with her hands tucked in the front pockets.

Wally weaved his way through the lab with ease, checking over his shoulder every so often to make sure she was still there. They went into the elevator.

"Dick said he'd call your uncle but he agrees you should come with me. Stone knows your uncle's house and he might have someone waiting for you to show up." Wally's phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket. He talked while he read, "Dick just texted me. He says everyone is fine. Megan is taking Conner to her uncle's house. Kaldur and Rocket are going to meet them there. Mr. Queen and Dinah are fine but they are going to Bruce's for the night."

Artemis nodded, feeling incredibly guilty all the sudden. Because of her all these people might be in danger. The elevator dinged open and they left it. They passed the busty secretary, who glared at Artemis but smiled at Wally, and then they went into the parking garage. Wally led her to an old black Honda and opened the door for her. Once she was inside he closed it and got behind the wheel. He drove out of the parking garage and Artemis watched out the window.

"You can take the bed. I'll take the couch. I don't mind." He looked over at her again then back to the road. "We can order in. I have all the fast food places on speed dial-"

Artemis snorted. She couldn't help it. "Of course you would."

Wally grinned, seemed happy to have gotten her a bit back to herself. "I also get discounts." Artemis full out laughed at that. Wally turned into an apartment parking garage and parked. They both got out and Wally led her to the elevator. They went right up to the seventh floor and to room 7C. Wally pulled out a key ring and opened the door. They both walked in. "Make yourself at home, I'm just going to get the takeout menus."

Artemis watched him walk off into what she guessed to be the kitchen. She hugged herself and nudged off her shoes. She walked down the hardwood hallway and into the living room. She wasn't sure what she expected, maybe something more Spartan due to his recent move, but it wasn't what she saw. The couch and easy chair were both brown and were facing a large flat screen. Selves lined the walls, most holding books or comics but a few held Flash and Kid Flash action figures. Others held pictures of Wally and a blonde man or a red headed woman. It was easy to pick out his parents, they both looked so much like him, and she guessed the other two were his aunt and uncle. She turned away from the pictures and sat down on the couch. Wally walked in holding a tall stack of take out menus. He sat next to Artemis and put them on the table.

"What do you want? I have Chinese, Greek, Subs, Greasy-"

"Nice toys." Artemis said, looking pointedly at the shelf. Wally looked a little offended, despite the slight redness of his cheeks.

"Those are not _toys._ Those are limited edition, collectable action figures." Wally got up and marched over to them. He picked a Kid Flash up that looked a bit shiner than the rest. "This is the metallic Kid Flash. He was released on the one year anniversary on his first appearance."

"Sorry. You're right. They're _glorified _toys." Artemis smirked as Wally started to sputter. Eventually he put down his precious figure and walked back over. He sat down next to Artemis. She could tell he was physically restraining himself from arguing. Artemis laughed. "Let's get Chinese."

Wally seemed to be glad for the change of topic and he picked up the menu. "What do you want?" They decided on their own little Chinese buffet and Wally ordered while Artemis flipped through the television channels. After he hung up he came back into the living room holding some shorts and a t shirt.

"You wanna have a shower?" Artemis nodded. "First door on the left. There's towels and stuff in there. Call if you need anything." Artemis thanked him and took the clothes. She wandered down the hallway and into the bathroom. The rug was black and so was the shower curtain. The shower was in a stall in the corner and was beside the toilet. The sink was on the wall to the left of that with the towel rack.

She found some shampoo and soap under the sink. Artemis took off her shirt and very carefully wiggled out of her jeans because of her torn up knees. She took off her underwear and bra then turned on the shower. She got in and finger combed all the tangles out of her hair, then she washed it. She cleaned the dried blood off her shins then got out and dried herself off. She put on her underwear and sports bra then the shorts Wally gave her. She pulled the giant t shirt over her head. It said 'CENTRAL CITY HIGH SCHOOL' in big bold letters across the chest. Artemis used her hair tie to hold her hair in a loose side braid. She left the bathroom.

Wally was sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looked up and smiled, "Feel better?"

"Yeah, actually. Thanks."

"No problem. Let's take a look at those knees. Come on. The kitchen has better lighting." They walked into the small, clean kitchen. Wally patted the counter and opened the first aid kit he had laid out on the counter. Artemis slid onto the counter gracefully, but somewhat reluctantly. Her knees were fine.

Wally cleaned them out with some antiseptic gel. She almost flinched but stopped herself. Then he spread some ointment on them and put some bandages over them. Someone knocked at the door and Artemis stiffened. Wally must've sensed it because he said, "It's just the food. Don't worry." He tucked a stray hair behind her ear then went to go answer it. Artemis followed him to the doorway and poked her head out. She watched as Wally opened the door to reveal the delivery guy. He took the food and paid then closed the door and turned to see her peeking out the doorway.

"Got the feast." He held up the food. "C'mon we can watch a movie."

Artemis smiled, "As long as it's not a crappy romcom."

"Damn. Those are my favourite. I guess we'll just have to settle for an action movie." Wally responded. They went to the living room where they laid out all the food on the coffee table. Wally got a two liter bottle of Pepsi and two glass cups from the kitchen.

Artemis slid into the corner of the couch while Wally popped in some movie about spies. Wally sat on the other side of the couch and got through three or four containers of food before the movie ended. At around ten the movie ended and they started another one. At first glance, the movie appeared to be an action movie about ninjas but it turned out to be about a ninja girl whose ninja father wanted her to kill her ninja boyfriend because he was from a rival ninja clan.

Artemis's eyes started to drop about halfway through the movie. She wasn't sure when she actually fell sleep but she woke up to find herself being carried to the bedroom. Wally carefully tucked her into the bed and whispered goodnight. He was about to leave when she sat up.

"Wally. I'll take the couch. This is your bed." Artemis said as she yawned.

Wally shook his head. "No. I'm fine."

"Then we can just be adults about this." Artemis said stubbornly. She took one of the four pillows and put it in the middle of the bed pointedly.

Wally raised his eyebrows, "You sure?"

"Just go put on your pajamas, Baywatch." Wally listened to her and left, coming back wearing a white t shirt and red plaid pajama pants. He got in the other side of the bed and Artemis closed her eyes. She listened to his soft breathing and found herself relaxing to the sound. She was soon asleep.

Artemis shot up in bed. Her breathing was laboured and a cool sweat had settled over her body. She was shivering. It was just a dream. She heaved breaths and wiped her face. She had dreamt she hadn't gotten away. That Stone had got her.

"Just a dream, Artemis. Get a hold of yourself." She muttered to herself. But apparently she had done it louder than she thought because Wally stirred beside her.

"Artemis?"

"Go back to sleep, Wally." But he had sat up.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just a dream." Artemis said. She laid back down, facing him. "See?" She forced a smile as if to prove it. "I'm fine."

Wally laid back down and scooted a bit closer to her. "Come here, Artemis." It was the middle of the night and she was tired. Who could blame her? She did as he said and moved to bury her face in his chest. He smelled like cinnamon and discreet cologne. Warmth radiated off him and soon Artemis wasn't shivering anymore. Wally wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. He tucked some behind her ear and hugged her a little tighter.

"Go back to sleep, beautiful. Everything is fine. Everyone is safe." He whispered into her hair, "You're safe. I've got you, Artemis. Nothing's going to get you." He murmured. Between the warmth of his body, his words, and simply because it was _Wally_ Artemis found herself slowly falling asleep again.

_And my own two hands_

_Will comfort you tonight, tonight_

_Say when_

_And my own two arms_

_Will carry you tonight, tonight_

_When she swings, she's a heavy hitter_

_When she comes you'll ask her to stay_

Artemis woke up and immediately panicked. The wall she could see was brown not the white of her room, the comforter that covered her was white not her grey one, and there was a distinctly human figure behind her. But it soon all came rushing back. She was in Wally's apartment. That meant that it was Wally that was pressed against her back and it was Wally that had his face tucked into her hair and it was Wally that had his arm draped across her waist. Artemis wondered briefly where the pillow that was once between them but she soon located it on the floor in front of her. Artemis found she didn't really mind it was gone and she didn't really mind that she was pretty much spooning Wally. And that freaked her out. She needed out of there. Now.

Artemis moved her arm down carefully and took Wally's wrist in her hand. She lifted it up gently and tried to move it back to him but she felt him stir. She put his wrist back down gently. Artemis froze and waited for him to fall back asleep but that didn't happen. She shut her eyes tightly.

Wally burrowed his face into her hair a little before pulling back. He very carefully lifted his arm and turned around to sit up. The bed shifted as he stood and Artemis heard him walk around the bed to her side. He pushed some hair away from her face and leaned down to gently kiss her cheek. She listened to him leave the room. Artemis counted to five in her head to be sure he was gone then opened her eyes and sat up. She let her fingers ghost her cheek where he had kissed her until she realized what she was doing and dropped her hand. She shook her head and looked around. She hadn't been able to see the room the night before because it was almost pitch black, but now there was light streaming in from the window.

The room was a little larger than Artemis's and held a light brown dresser, desk, and wardrobe. The desk was covered in clutter, much like his office desk. Books were stacked along the wall and a closet sat next to those. Artemis started to smell bacon and eggs. She pushed the covers off and stepped onto the carpeted floor. She wandered to the kitchen to find Wally standing in front of the stove, making bacon and eggs in two frying pans. He turned around and saw her. He smiled.

"Morning, sleeping beauty."

"Hey. How'd you sleep?" Artemis asked as she walked towards him and leaned on the counter beside the stove.

"Pretty good actually. You?"

Artemis tilted her head and smiled. "Me too." Wally dumped the larger pan's contents onto a plate and the smaller pan's onto another. He handed the smaller portion, which was a regular human's meal size, to Artemis and kept the other one, which was about three times as big as hers.

"I don't have a table or anything. Sorry." Wally said. Artemis just shrugged and went to the living room where she sat on the couch. Wally joined her. He turned on the morning news and while she didn't admit it, Artemis was waiting for some news about Stone Eyes. To her disappointment, nothing came on.

Wally finished first and went for a shower while Artemis went back to his room and changed into her shirt. Her jeans were beyond repair so she had ended up trashing them. She'd just return Wally's shorts later. He came out of the shower in jeans and a t shirt, towel drying his hair.

"Do you wanna do something today? Go to the park or something?" He asked. Artemis shook her head.

"Sorry. I have to work at the cafe. Could you give me a ride?"

Wally nodded, "What time?"

"Nine."

Wally glanced at the clock, "If we leave now, we'll get there just in time." They left the apartment and both got in Wally's car. They rode in silence until they got there. Wally rolled to a stop outside and they looked at each other.

"Thanks again. For everything."

"Don't mention it, beautiful." He shifted to face her better. "Are you sure you don't want to stay at my place again tonight?"

"Positive. I'll be fine." Artemis told him. "I have to go. I'm gonna be late." She sent him another smile then climbed out of the car. No sooner had she stepped onto the curb had Wally called her name. She turned around and he was just standing there, looking at her. She wasn't sure how he got there so fast but there was this _look_ in his eyes that halted the words in her throat. He took a step towards her.

"I've been wanting to do this since I first met you." Was all he said before he closed the gap between them. He held her face between his hands and smashed his lips against hers. It took Artemis a full five seconds to realize what was happening. Then it took her another five seconds to realize she wasn't totally freaked out about it. That she..._liked _it. Artemis put her hands on his shoulders and let him deepen the kiss. He smelled like cinnamon and tasted like spearmint tooth paste. His hands slid down to her waist and hers went to his hair. When they finally broke apart, Artemis's face felt flushed and she was breathing heavily. Wally was too. He leaned his forehead on hers.

"Wow."

Artemis couldn't resist. "Did I finally leave the infamous Wallman lost for words?"

"If talking less meant I get to do that more then I wouldn't mind." Artemis slapped his arm.

"I have to get to work."

"Me too. I'll call later, okay?" Artemis nodded and pulled her forehead back from his. Wally snuck another peck on her lips. She couldn't fight back her smile and turned to walk towards the building but turned around. Wally had this dazed look on his face and he was watching her. Artemis smiled at him and strode into the cafe.

She worked in a bit of a daze for the rest of the day. Between the crazed murderer after her and the out of nowhere make out session with Wally, her thoughts were pretty crowded. Her shift finally ended at six and she ditched her apron.

She walked outside and saw Dick's car parked out front. The window rolled down to reveal Zatanna. "Want a ride?" She smiled. Artemis returned it then got into the back seat.

"How're you Artemis?" Dick asked from the driver's seat, glancing in the mirror at her.

"I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Zatanna asked. Artemis nodded. They reached the house and Dick parked out front. He followed them in and did a walkthrough of the apartment. Artemis looked around. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Except of course, the broken window and missing shower rod.

Dick came back, "Well, it looks clear. Nothing out of the ordinary. Still, if anything happens. And I mean _anything. _You call me, okay?" Zatanna and Artemis nodded. "Always check the peephole and keep the doors and windows locked. Don't leave the building if you can. Be careful." Dick kissed both girls on the cheek then left.

The girls went and sat on the couch. They turned on the television and watched it for a while.

"I'm sorry for all this," Artemis blurted halfway through the program.

Zatanna looked at her. "Don't you dare apologize, Artemis. This isn't your fault." Zatanna leaned on Artemis and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Don't feel bad or anything, okay?" Zatanna unwrapped her arms. Artemis nodded. "I want to hear about what happened last night. I want every detail from when you were chased to this morning. Go."

Artemis sighed. She really wanted to, but she couldn't lie to her best friend. She told her everything. Zatanna's jaw dropped when she got to their...sleeping arrangements and it stayed there until she got to the kiss.

"So...did you like it?" Zatanna asked, eyes wide and grinning hugely.

Artemis looked at the wall, "Yes." Zatanna jumped up and did a little dance. "Zee! Zee! Stop it! Zee!"

Zatanna sat down again. "So...what now?"

"He said he was going to call me tonight."

Zatanna fell back onto the back of the couch. She sighed happily, "This is wonderful. Artemis has a love life. It sounds even better out loud!"

Artemis felt her face heat up even more, "Shut up, Zee!" The phone rang and Artemis jumped up to get it. It was Josh from the front desk. Josh had been their night guy for a few months now. He didn't really talk much, but he was nice enough.

"What's up, Josh?"

"There's- there's a package here for you."

"A package? Who from?"

"Don't know, some red head. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll come down. Josh, are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Totally fine. Just come get your package."

"Okay. I'll be right down." Artemis hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" Zatanna asked.

"There's a package for me downstairs. It's weird, Josh sounded nervous."  
>"Josh is always nervous. He's just terrified of people that aren't his mother. Who's it from?"<p>

"You're probably right. Some red head he said. I'd better go get it," Artemis said.

"Some red head?" Zatanna said excitedly. Artemis ignored her as she slipped on her runners and left the room. She took the elevator and pushed the lobby button. It groaned in protest, but Artemis ignored it for the most part. The doors dinged open and Artemis walked out.

"So, Josh, what-" She stopped in her tracks. Josh was standing behind the desk as usual, but he wasn't alone as he usually was. Stone stood with him, holding a gun to his ear. "Let him go. He's just a kid."

"Come with me."

"Let him go and we'll see." Stone let go of Josh. Then he pistol whipped him. The nineteen year old fell to the ground, unconscious. Artemis counted six goons out of the corner of her eye. She could probably take them all. She'd just have to plan out her attack carefully. "Some red head, huh?"

"Yes, I saw you with him this morning. I sincerely hoped it was your brother until you kissed him."

"So sorry to disappoint." Artemis snapped. "If you want me, then why don't you come and get me. Or are you afraid to take on a little girl?"

"Of course we aren't. But you see, you have this nasty habit of beating up my thugs." He sighed, "It's so hard to find good hired help these days."

"So what are you going about it?" But Artemis got her answer when someone grabbed her from behind. A cloth was forced over her mouth. Her eyes started to burn and the smell of some kind of chemical assaulted her nose. Artemis tried to struggle against it but she could feel her consciousness slipping away. Her fight became weaker and weaker until everything went black.

_And you can't tell_

_I'm scared as hell_

_Cause I can't get you on the telephone_


	5. Chapter 5

_I've gotta fight today_

_To live another day_

_Speaking my mind today_

_My voice will be heard today_

Artemis pried her eyes open. She was disoriented and everything spun. She tried to sit up and found she couldn't. Her limbs felt like lead and her throat burned. Her wrists and ankle were tied with rough rope. Artemis allowed herself to take a moment to gather herself. She pried her eyes open again. There was a weak light coming from the crack under a door. Very slowly, she lifted her wrists to her mouth and began to undo the knots with her teeth. By the time she had finished, she felt a bit better. She was able to sit up without wanting to vomit, which was progress. She untied her ankles and stood carefully. She took deep breaths and leaned on the wall. She took a few shaky steps towards the light and felt around, found a light switch, and flicked it on. That was a mistake. The sudden flood of light assaulted her eyes and she sunk to the floor. She counted slowly to ten then opened them again. Artemis forced herself to stand as she looked around the room. She was in a janitor's office. She took one shaky step, then another. And another. She paced the room until she felt confident in her steps. If she couldn't fight, she could sure as hell run.

Artemis looked around the room for anything she could use. She found an unopened package of bottle water in the back under the desk. She chugged two right away then opened a third. Once she had finished that, she dropped the bottles on the floor and checked through the drawers. Nothing useful. She went to the door and tried the knob. It was unlocked. A stroke of confidence poked her. She felt stronger now. It was funny how something as simple as water could do that.

Artemis opened the door a tiny crack. She scoped out what she could see. All clear. She slipped out and tiptoed through the dark room. Lights lit up various cabinets throughout it. She approached one. It was filled with a piece of torn fishnet stocking and a broken heel. Little cards sat next to each that described where and when it was from. Artemis skimmed it quickly. They were both from Black Canary. Artemis knew exactly where she was now.

Two months ago, Gotham built a museum in tribute to the local heroes. Artemis had never gone to it, she couldn't seem to find the time, but now she was absolutely positive she was inside it.

"I don't know why he wouldn't want to just bring her to the roof." A gruff voice rang out.

"You fuckin' idiot. He didn't want the babe there cause she could get away." Another one said. Artemis's head snapped to look at the direction the noise was coming from. She cursed silently then bolted behind a display case. She pressed her back against it and tried to make herself as small as possible. She listened to them go into the closet. Then she crept as far as she could from them. She got a few cabinets away before heard them start swearing loudly. Crashing noises erupted from the closet.

"Where the fuck is the little bitch?"

So they found she had escaped. Great. If she wanted to keep her secret she'd have to keep these two quiet. She would have to take them down quietly too, she wasn't sure if there were anymore guards around.

"How would I do that." She muttered to herself. On a whim, she looked to the cabinet she was leaning on. Inside were these spherical little metal things. She skimmed the little description. Some of Robin's smoke bombs and a tool belt with a broken buckle (_Found and generously donated by Bruce Wayne_). Perfect. Now how would she get them out. She ran her fingers along the sides and found nothing. Not a lock, or a keypad, or anything. Suddenly, a door slammed open. Artemis peeked around the corner to see two thugs stomping out of the janitors closet. It seemed they had finished with their little hissy fit inside the closet.

"Split up. Find the bitch. Then we'll beat some sense into her and bring her to the boss." The bigger of the two barked.

"Shit," Artemis whispered. She ran her fingers along the sides again and because she was getting desperate, the bottom. They brushed on what felt like a keypad. She ducked down and found a seven number pass code on a Wayne Industries lock. Artemis quickly listed everything she knew about the locks mentally. Bruce invented them. One failed entry and this huge alarm went off. Only high officials of Wayne industries know the code. The codes would probably be all the same for this floor. Bruce chooses every one of them personally. She repeated that last fact out loud, almost silently. Artemis took a deep breath and typed. 7424273. She held her breath. The red light flashed them turned green. The pass code was Richard. She always knew Bruce was a big softie.

Artemis stood up and pulled open the door slowly to be sure it wouldn't creek. She took both spheres out of the cabinet and tied the belt around her waist. She stuffed one in her belt and headed for the nearest thug. It was the smaller of the two, but he was still huge. She pressed the button and threw down the first bomb. She pulled her shirt over her nose but didn't let her eyes lose him.

"What the fuck," he said. He took a few steps back, as if he was trying to evade the smoke. Artemis ran up behind him and jumped onto his back, putting on hand on his mouth to muffle his yelling and wrapping her other arm around his throat. She squeezed it just enough to cut off of his oxygen. She counted to ten and released him, just as he uncle taught her. He began to fall, unconscious. Artemis caught him on her shoulder and set him down carefully to prevent any noise. The smoke was beginning to clear up and she had to get out of there.

"Hey, jackass." The other guy called out. Artemis ducked behind another display case. He was closer than she had thought. "Fuck face, where the fuck are you?" Artemis threw down the other smoke bomb at his feet. She dropped and swept his legs out from under him then shoved him onto his stomach by twisting his arm. She pushed a pressure point in his shoulder, "Who's the bitch now?" His eyes closed too.

Artemis was sick and tired of being hunted and she was sick and tired of Stone's bullshit. It was time to end this. Now. She knew she wouldn't have much time before someone came looking for the two goons she knocked out, so she would have to work fast. She kept the belt, even though it was empty. It could prove useful later on. She prowled along the cases, looking for a specific item. She found it and grinned. Artemis entered the code and took Green Arrow's bow and quiver, filled with about thirty arrows. It said they had been left at a crime scene when Green Arrow had darted off after the villain, fighting hand to hand with Black Canary at his side (_Found and donated generously by Oliver Queen_). She read the last bit again. As Artemis slung the quiver across her back, puzzle pieces began to fall into place.

She took one arrow and notched it in the bow, pointing it towards the floor so it could be easily lifted and shot on a moment's notice.

Artemis crept towards the exit. If she were a dumbass criminal waiting for hired goons to bring her captive to her where would she hide? The answer was simple.

Artemis looked out the window nearest to her. She was hundreds of feet in the air, probably on one of the top floors of the sky scraper. The museum was on top of something, but Artemis couldn't recall what nor did she really care at the moment.

Making up her mind, she turned on her heel and strode to the exit. She opted for the stairs, knowing she'd have an escape route if she was overwhelmed. Plus, going up in an elevator was just plain stupid.

She entered the stairwell and raised her bow, sweeping it all around her line of sight and finding no one. She kept it raised as she slowly slipped up the stairs, quiet as a shadow. A door opened somewhere above her and Artemis ran to stand against the wall, ready to shoot anyone who would come down the stairs. But, of course, that's not what happened. The giant form of Bestial completely bypassed the stairs and leapt down the middle. He grabbed the railing closest to her and swung to stand a foot in front of her. Artemis let an arrow fly and nailed him in the shoulder. He didn't so much as blink at it. He wrapped one giant hand around her neck and lifted her off the ground. She kicked out and clawed at his arm, but he was simply too strong.

"Stop!" Someone called out. Artemis struggled for breath. She felt her windpipe being cut off. The world wavered in and out of focus. "The boss wants her alive, idiot." Bestial dropped her and Artemis gasped. She felt the bow being yanked from her fingers and the quiver pulled from her back. Someone tied her wrists tightly. Bestial picked her up again and swung her over his shoulder. She started beating on his back with her fists but she was probably like an annoying fly.

Just as she had earlier expected, they brought her to the roof. Despite her current situation, Artemis had to fight back a tiny smile. Fools. They brought to exactly where she had wanted to go. Sure, they knew she was there. Sure, they had her weapon. Sure, she was kind of captured. For the moment. But, they had brought her bow up. And they were _still _underestimating her.

They brought her up the stairs then left the building. The bitter cold air raised goose bumps on her skin. Bestial dropped her unceremoniously onto the hard cement. She felt around for anything she could use to slice up her bonds but came up empty. She'd just have to untie it the old fashioned way. Artemis glared and sat up. She looked up to see Stone standing over her. She spit on his shoes. He just smiled. She looked around out of the corner of her eye and counted roughly eighteen goons.

"Still full of fire, I see." Stone said.

"Fuck you." She glared.

"Sir, we found her with these weapons." A thug showed Stone the bow and arrows.

Stone picked up the bow and examined it, "You know how to use this?"

"No idea," Artemis lied easily, "I thought they looked intimidating." She watched where they put it down about five feet behind her.

Stone laughed and Artemis didn't have to feign her anger. "I'm sure you're wondering what we're doing here."

"No, not-"

"Well you see, I want to get rid of Flash once and for all. He's been like this pesky little fly ever since my first bank heist. Have I ever told you about it?" Artemis rolled her eyes. "Anyways, back to Flash. I have a plan. Boys!" A giant spotlight lit up the sky. It was like the Batsignal with one minor difference. A lightning bolt sat in the middle. He held up a huge megaphone and pointed to a speaker. "And this is where you help me, young lady." He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, despite her struggles. He brought her to the edge of the roof, where Artemis could see a crowd had gathered that included both civilians and various cop cars and an ambulance. Someone aimed a spotlight right at them. "I made sure to enter nice and loudly. Told them I'd hurt you if anyone attempted an entrance. Impressed?" He grinned like he was some genius.

"Not in the slightest." Artemis growled. Stone lifted his microphone.

"Good evening, all. I am so delighted to have you here today. As you see, I have a captive. My lovely captive is a beautiful, blonde spark of a girl. That's enough for the infamous Flash to know who I'm talking about, for sure." He laughed, "That's all _you_ need to know about her. Unless, of course, she has something to say?" He offered her the megaphone. Artemis snatched it from him with a glare.

"Flash...I know you're hearing this. I'm fine. Just _do not_ do anything stupid, okay? That includes-" Stone took the microphone back before she could tell him not to come and get her.

"If any, and I mean any, other of you cute little heroes come to get her then she will die. I want Flash. Anyone else shows up, I'm afraid I'll have to slit that pretty little neck of hers. So please, make the wise choice." He turned off the microphone. "He'll be here any minute now."

"What are you going to do to him?" Artemis spat.

Stone laughed. He took a gun out of his pants. "What do you think, beautiful?" Another wave of anger flooded through her. That was _Wally's _nickname for her. He had no right to use it. She was about to tell him that when he looked pointedly to the door. Artemis followed his gaze. His men were setting up a net across it.

Artemis scoffed. "Did you really think that would work-" But she was cut off as Flash ran right into the net. He tumbled down and rolled, only entangling himself more. Artemis rolled her eyes.

Stone shoved Artemis back to sit down, out of the line of sight of the civilians. Flash was dragged over to lie beside her. Artemis's hands worked furiously at her cloth around her wrists between her knees.

"Boss." One of the thugs said. He gestured for Stone to come.

"I'll be right back, dove." Stone said. Artemis wrinkled her nose at the nickname. Stone left, leaving a few guards watching over them. Artemis moved onto her knees and crawled over to Flash.

"Idiot!"

"What?"

"You did something stupid! When I explicitly told you not too!"

"All I did was come for you."

"That's what you did wrong! I can handle myself." He eyed her bonds.

"Sure about that?"

"I have everything under control. And I'm not the one in the net, so I wouldn't talk."

"Under control or not, I'm going to help. It's what the wannabe hero does for his anti damsel. Didn't you know?"

"I'm not worth it, Flashy."

Flash grinned at her, "I think you are, beautiful."

Despite the circumstances, Artemis's face flushed. Her voice became soft, "You okay?"

"Better that I've found you, gorgeous."

"Flash..." Her voice trailed off.

"I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than a measly net to take me down." He told her seriously, "You okay?"

"Yeah. Flash, he wants to kill you."

"Don't worry. I've been in worse situations."

"I'm not worried. Just thought I'd tell you." She paused, "Not like he could anyway. I mean, the bastard's pissed me off. Not something you want to do." She looked over her shoulder. "He's coming."

Stone came back to stand in front of them. He looked at Flash and tilted his head. He walked over to his side. "You little fucker. Thinking you can get between me and her. Can't you tell? She's too good for you."

"If I'm too good for him, I'm too good for you with light years." Artemis said.

"SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" He shrieked. "YOU'VE BRAINWASHED HER!" Then he slammed his boot into his stomach. Flash let out a surprised grunt.

"Buddy, two words. Anger. Management." Flash choked out between blows. He kicked him again and again. Flash pretended he wasn't hurting him, but Artemis could tell he was. Artemis's hands worked furiously at her bonds. Finally, they came undone.

Artemis stood up and launched herself at Stone, "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She screamed. She slammed into him and they both fell. Artemis grabbed his collar and pulled it up. She punched him straight in the nose before she jumped up. Two thugs ran at her and she dodged them. She wanted to get to her bow. She was furious but she couldn't let that cloud her head. She needed to keep a level head. She _needed_ her bow.

Artemis handsprung past another goon and picked up the bow and quiver. She slung the quiver across her back, letting an arrow fly. It snagged onto a thug's shirt and stuck into the wall. She shot three more to make sure that he stayed there. She grabbed another arrow and noticed it have a blue stripe on it before she let it fly at a coming goon. At contact, it exploded and grew into this weird sludge stuff. It encased two thug's abdomens, forcing them to stop in their tracks. They both fell over backwards at the weight. Stone ran at her, snarling and waving his gun. Artemis shot an arrow at him then dived out of the way when he dodged it.

Adrenaline shot white hot through her veins. It was like all her senses were sharpened. She kept an eye on Flash, who was struggling to get out of the net. She felt every bump and dent in the bow she held, felt every feather light breeze on her cheek whenever she let an arrow fly. Holding this bow, fighting for something she believed in. It felt right. She fought for her own freedom, and Flash's life, and probably other innocent lives. She was fighting because she still believed in heroes. Because she knew there was one in her.

"Flash!" She yelled then strung an arrow and shot it at him. It landed right where she had aimed, embedded in the ground next to him and close enough so he could reach it. She turned back to face Stone but was knocked to the ground. She rolled away and stood, throwing her foot up and into Stone's face. She kicked his gun out of his hands and it fell to the ground uselessly. He lunged and she sidestepped, letting him fall to the ground. She shoulder rolled after the gun and grabbed it, emptying it of bullets as she ran to the edge of the roof and hurled the gun off the edge. Better safe than sorry. She turned and released three more arrows to pin the goons. She knew she wouldn't be able to shoot fatally, not if she tried. Artemis would have to settle for getting them and hopefully keeping them stuck.

Another thug flew at her and she recognised him as the one who had hit Conner. He swung and she dropped to a crouch and swept his feet out from under him. He began to sit up, but she whipped him across the face with her bow. He fell back, unconscious. She felt a little justified in it.

Suddenly, she saw a red blur rush past her. She spared a glance at the net and found it sawed open and empty. The next arrow she pulled out of her quiver had another blue stripe at it, so she shot it where most of the guards she had taken down were fiddling with the arrows that had them stuck to the wall. It encased their feet. Just in case.

More guards ran at her, along with Stone. Where did they keep coming from? Artemis backed up a few steps and notched an arrow, aimed, and shot. Bullseye. She shot another and took another step back. Bullseye. She took a third arrow and a third step back only this time she bumped into something huge. She turned and saw Bestial. He grinned a horrible grin, picking up Artemis before she could notch another arrow. She dropped her bow as he lifted her. She struggled against his bear hug grip but couldn't get out.

"Hey, lug head!" Flash shouted. Bestial turned his great head. "That's right, dumbass! I'm talking to you! Remember me? Sent you to Arkham a little while back. Wanna come and get me?" Bestial grunted and dropped Artemis. Flash zipped little circles around him.

Artemis picked up her bow and took down two more thugs. She only had a few arrows left and she needed to make them count. Artemis was grabbed from behind. They wrapped their arm around her throat while another thug came to punch her. She took two hits to her stomach before throwing her elbow back. She hooked her foot around her captor's and twisted, sending them both to the ground. They rolled, snarling and scratching and punching at one another. Artemis got a good hit in and the thug let go. She squeezed his pressure point until he fell unconscious then felt someone grab her hair and drag her back. Artemis scrambled to get her feet flat on the ground then twisted her head, forcing his wrist to twist and drop. She picked up her bow and shot two more arrows and spun around with her bow pointed down, ready to be lifted and shot.

She saw Bestial on the ground, unconscious and realized that the thugs were all in similar states. Only two other people were still awake on the rooftop, and one was dangling off the edge.

Stone held Flash by his neck. Flash was clawing against his grip and his legs were kicking out. Artemis didn't know how Stone was holding him up; she didn't realize he was so strong.

"Drop your bow and I won't turn him to rock before drop him," Stone snarled. A black eye was forming around the stone of his eye and his hat was gone. His lip was split, courtesy of Artemis.

Artemis raised her bow.

"Hurt him and you'll pay dearly." She meant it.

"No idea how to use the bow, huh?"

"Put him down. I won't tell you again." She kept her voice calm, masking all her other emotions.

"You're really beginning to become a pain in my-"

Artemis aimed lower and shot. Stone gasped in surprise as the arrow dug into his thigh. But Artemis had already dropped her bow and was running. Artemis slid on her stomach, only just catching Flash's wrist.

Stone cursed as he fell.

"Artemis. You'll fall. Let go." He told her, his emerald eyes dimming with grim acceptance.

"Wally. I've got you. Wally hold on." She told him stubbornly through clenched teeth.

"You can't-"

"YES I FUCKING CAN," She screamed. She reached her other hand and grabbed him. She braced a foot against the lip of the roof and grunted as she heaved. She threw her entire body weight in the direction of the roof. The momentum pulled Flash up so his chest was over the lip. She helped him the rest of the way then fell onto her back. She breathed heavily.

They both sat in silence for a moment, only their breathing occupying the bitter air. Flash peeked over the lip then looked back at Artemis. She opened her mouth to ask but Flash shook his head, cutting her off. Artemis sat up and pushed some stray hair out of her face, panting.

"Told you I could." Artemis told him. Flash chuckled.

"So. Wally, huh?" Flash said. Artemis smiled at him.

"It wasn't hard to figure out. You should really use separate pet names."

"That's how you got it?" He asked disbelievingly.

Artemis shrugged, "Part of it." Wally stood up and offered her a hand. She ignored it and stood on her own.

"I'd better radio Nightwing. Bats and Canary too. And Arrow. He's probably having a spaz about now. They're all standing by, waiting for the panic word or the all clear." Artemis glanced around the roof filled with knocked out thugs as he pressed the costume by his ear. He talked but she didn't really pay attention. When he finished, he told her the other heroes would be here soon to oversee everything went alright.

"Bats picked up a radio signal though, he said the cops are about to rush the building. He thinks we should split." Artemis knew why she would have to go. Being known as the girl Flash has a soft spot for, well, it wouldn't bode well for her.

She let him pick her up and run off, stopping moments later on a different rooftop. He put her down and she walked to the edge, looking at the flashing cop cars and ambulances.

"So, did you figure out anyone else?"

"I had suspicions about Dinah and Ollie for a while now. I mean, Dinah doesn't even wear a mask. Bruce and Dick I figured out about tonight."

"How?"

"The stuff I stole in the museum. Everything was guarded by Wayne Tech. Batman would never let anyone have any of his technology. Not unless he could control the access. Doesn't seem like a very trusting guy to me. I guess the puzzle pieces just kind of fell into place."

"So that's where you got the bow." He paused and Artemis guessed he was probably studying it. She watched as cops poured into the museum. "I was wondering about that. Where'd you learn to use that thing?"

"Uncle Ollie taught me when I was nine."

"The fighting too?"

"Yep." Artemis turned around to see Wally had walked up behind her silently. He wrapped his arms around her waist; she wrapped hers loosely around his neck.

"What about me?" Wally asked. "How'd you figure me out?" Artemis shrugged.

"I think I always knew." Wally grinned. Artemis pulled down his cowl to reveal his full freckled face. His hair sprung free from its confines. Artemis ran a hand through it and slid her hand down to cup the side of his face. She examined all the cuts and bruises he sustained from the fight. She knew he was doing the same.

"You know what's really, really hot?" Wally quipped, his eyes bright.

"What?" Artemis felt a small smile grow on her face.

"Anti Damsels." Artemis could feel the skin on her cheek swelling and she felt a few scrapes on her face and she was pretty sure her left eyebrow was split. Hardly attractive.

"Wannabe heroes aren't too bad either." Wally laughed. She buried her face in his neck and held her arms around him. He rested his cheek on her head. She sighed.

"So what now?" Wally asked.

"Now? I'm really, really hungry. And thirsty. And tired. Bring me home?"

"Sure." But neither of them moved. They stood in comfortable silence for a moment before Artemis spoke up.

"Wally?"

"Yeah, beautiful?"

"I totally took down more guys than you."

"Did not."

"Did so."

"Did not."

"Did so."

"Did not."

Artemis pulled back and shut him up the most effectively way she knew.

"Did so," She mumbled against his lips.

_She's a lady and ladies shouldn't be messed with._

_And they say that a hero will save us_

_I'm not going to stand here and wait_

**FOUR MONTHS LATER.**

"This is Jane Michelson, reporting for Gotham News. I am standing outside Gotham City Bank, where Scarecrow had arrived with his gang to rob Wayne Labs for some new technology. Flash and the city's newest young heroine, Artemis, have already arrived on the scene." A loud crash emitted from the building. Jane Michelson turned around and looked back at the camera excitedly, "It seems the fight has moved outside! Quick, Hal, get a shot of this."

The camera swung to focus on the front of the building, where a lithe woman dressed fully in green shot arrows with confidence, not even stopping to aim but always hitting her target. She hand sprung down the front steps and whirled around to shoot more at oncoming thugs. The only part you could see of Flash was a long red streak that bulldozed over any thug in his path.

"Flash!" Jane waved her arms wildly above her head, "Hey, Flash!"

Flash skidded to a stop in front of her. "Hey babe." He grinned.

"Can you answer some quick questions?"

"I have all the time in the world for you, babe."

"Do you have any comment on the girl Stone kidnapped?"

"The girl wishes to stay anonymous. The league decided it's for the best because it could put a target on her back."

"Understandable. What about Stone himself? Do you have any comment on his death?"

"Only that it was either me and the hostage leaving the roof that night, or Stone and the hostage. She saved my life and her freedom. She did the right thing."

"How about Artemis? Is she settling in well with the league?"

"Totally. She's doing great."

"How did she come about being a hero?"

"She fought for it. She fought for it with all her might and then some. Artemis has been through a lot and she fought for it all her life."

Suddenly, an arrow flew towards them. It planted itself on the ground between Flash's legs. The camera swung to see the archer glaring.

"Hey, hotshot! We've got a job to do!" Before dropping and kicking a goon's feet out from under him after he tried to sneak up on her.

"Sorry, babe. Duty calls."

"One more thing! A few months ago you mentioned an Anti Damsel in our interview. It's Artemis, isn't it?"

Flash grinned. "You bet."

Artemis shot an arrow. "We're going to be late, Flashy."

"Sorry, babe." Flash said as he zoomed by, "Maneuver seven?"

"Roger." Artemis said. She shot another arrow before being swept up by Flash. She wrapped her legs around his torso and locked her ankles on his back. He lifted her up so her waist was in line with his top ribs and so she could have a clear shot over his shoulder. She lined up and shot as he was running, not missing a single target she aimed for. Just as they'd practiced. Flash held onto her to make sure she didn't fall as she fired the various trick arrows from her quiver. Finally, the goons and Scarecrow were all incapacitated and Artemis unhooked her legs. She fell into Wally's arms and he carried her bridal style while zipping away from the scene. Artemis wrapped her arms around his neck once she had shouldered her bow.

"My uncle is going to kill us."

"No he won't. We'll be there soon anyway."

"We still need to change!"

He screeched to a stop in an alley way far from the bank. "I only take a second. You can change in the car. The windows are tinted and it's nothing I've never seen before." Artemis smacked him upside the head.

"Watch it, Casanova."

"You didn't seem to mind my Casanova-ness this morning." That and his cheeky grin earned him another slap upside the head.

"Is Casanova-ness even a word?" Artemis pulled down her cowl and slid into the back of the car. She shoved Wally's black suit into his hands. Wally simply changed so quickly that it was done in almost the blink of an eye. He threw his Flash suit in the trunk then slid in the front seat. He began to drive as Artemis ditched her boots and wrist guards. They stopped at a red light. She pulled off her pants and shirt and looked up to see Wally's eyes watching her in the mirror.

"Really, Wally?"

"Are you sure we can't just skip the party?"

"_No._"

"But-"

"No." She leaned over to his seat and spoke softly in his ear, "But we can leave early." When Wally swallowed, she smirked. Artemis pulled on her dress and heels then took her hair down from its ponytail. She mussed it a bit then deemed it fit for the gala.

They got to the gala a few minutes late but were able to slip in without anyone noticing. They found their friends on the edge of the dance floor in a circle. They all stood talking and laughing about something or other. A lot had happened to the group in the past four months and they were closer than ever.

Dirt encrusted under Megan and Conner's nails from the flower shop. They had opened it the month before and business was booming. Dinah had taken them under her wing and taught them a thing or two about it. The girls even opened another shop together, with a little loan from Oliver. Wolf had grown to roughly the size of a small bear and now had to accompany them on their trips to the shop if they wanted to stop him from tearing apart the furniture.

The engagement ring caught the light on Zatanna's ring finger, her other hand occupied by Dick's. He had proposed to her on the anniversary of their first date. Artemis had thought it was cheesy but Zatanna had thought it adorable. The couple's lives had been extremely hectic ever since because of the wedding planning, as had Artemis and Wally's since they had been chosen as Maid of Honor and Best Man. Artemis pretended like she hated the planning but everyone knew she secretly enjoyed it.

Kaldur had finally gotten enough money to go to culinary school and had been able to drop the nightclub job. He still worked his other job during weekends and evenings to pay rent and buy necessities. He was fascinated by and loved every single one of his classes. Sometimes, he even dropped food off at his friend's apartments for them to test. Nobody minded. At all. Now, he dreamed of opening a pastry shop.

Rocket had opened a little clothing store filled with her own designs. Everyone had been surprised when she had first announced it (except, of course, Kaldur, who had seen her designs lying around the apartment) but were all rather impressed with how her business was going. She was even able to quit her other jobs. The girls had gone to visit one day and none of them escaped without at least two bags full of stuff, even Artemis.

Wally, well, he was Wally. He was still dorky and brilliant and Artemis was pretty sure she had already fallen hard for the geek. He taught her about taking down villains and they had made an endless list of different attacks while practicing. Artemis taught him all about painting and he had asked her to teach him a language. (He thought it was really sexy when she spoke in a different language to him).They bantered regularly, which kept Artemis on her toes. It made Wally a challenge and she loved challenges.

Artemis had gotten the scholarship from the art show, to her great astonishment. She was attending university now and had also dropped the job at the club. She kept the one at Ronnie's for necessities and because the tips were good. She found being a crime fighting archer was harder than she had expected, but she loved it nonetheless. She had recently gained her Justice League membership. At first, almost everyone had objected to her becoming a hero. But, being Artemis, she had completely ignored them and became one. Even after getting threats from the other heroes, including Batman. Artemis just couldn't take them seriously after knowing them all so long. They eventually warmed up to the idea, Green Arrow had trained her himself most of her life after all. She had gotten it so quickly because apparently having Black Canary, Green Arrow, Nightwing, Flash, _and_ Batman have faith in her went a long way. Juggling college and the league at the same time was exhausting but Artemis refused to quit. It was part of who she was now. There was no way she could just give it up.

Everything in Artemis's life was falling perfectly into place. Her friends were happy, her family was happy, her boyfriend was happy. She was happy. And it was great.

Artemis and Wally did manage to slip away from the party about an hour early. Wally cornered Artemis in the elevator.

"Can I help you?" Artemis asked with a smile. Wally responded by pressing his lips on hers. The elevator dinged open to a mercifully empty hallway. They didn't break their embrace as they walked to the door. Artemis pulled Wally's key out of his pocket and handed it to him. She smiled against his lips as he jumped when he felt her hands in his pockets. He blindly jammed the key against the door until Artemis broke the kiss and moved down to his neck. As soon as he got the door opened he tilted her chin up to kiss her again. They stumbled into his apartment, bumping into things but ignoring them.

Artemis felt the shoulder of her dress slip down and wondered when the sneaky bastard had unzipped it. She kicked off her heels and Wally ditched his dress shoes and jacket. She pulled off his tie and dropped it to the ground then began unbuttoning his shirt.

Artemis's calves bumped the back of the couch and she let herself fall down. Wally climbed on top of her and kissed her again, teasing her with his tongue. Two can play at that game. Artemis bit down on his lower lip and felt him jump. She let go and smiled as he kissed her harder. He broke apart from her lips to trail kisses down her jaw. He sucked and nipped at her neck while Artemis's hands fisted his hair.

_RING!_

"Wally..." Artemis said.

"Ignore it, it'll go to voicemail." He mumbled against her skin.

_RING!_

"It's not _that _phone, Wally." Artemis sighed.

He propped himself up on his elbows. "Can't Dick get it?" He whined. Artemis reached for the communicator and fished it out of her purse. She scanned the little screen.

"It's about half a block away. We'd better go." Artemis said. Wally grumbled but got off her.

Five minutes later, Flash dropped Artemis off on top of a roof. "Let's make this quick." She said as she jumped down from his arms with cat-like grace.

"Why's that?" He said with a cocky grin.

"I'm feeling kind of tired. Maybe I'll go to sleep early tonight." Artemis smirked at Wally's dejected expression. "Just go do your job, Baywatch." Flash winked and pecked her on the cheek before he sped off into the action. She notched an arrow as she watched Nightwing drop from another high rise to join his friend. Thugs burst from the door of the building, followed closely by Penguin.

Artemis raised her bow.

_Shoot out all the lights, hold your ground_

_We'll hit the sky, it's time you aim your arrows high_

**_END_**


End file.
